The Tale of the HeadLit Deer
by GUNMAN003
Summary: Karl was never the bravest person in the world, but when his fiance Lynn is missing, he will do anything in order to find her. Even join the Gallian Militia.
1. Chapter 1

The Tale of the Head-Lit Deer

**My first crack at making a fan fiction of Valkyria Chronicles. Leave advice if there is anything I should improve on**

**(Reuploaded because original format sucked)**

**Chapter 1**: Beginnings:

It was a cold, cloudy morning in Fort Amatriain, Karl Landzatt was about to enlist into the Gallian Militia. Naturally, he was nervous. He was never the bravest person in the world, and was reluctant to join. But it was for his lost fiancé, Lynn. Who was separated from him when they were supposed to evacuate their hometown of Fouzen. He had never thought they would be separated, even as children.

-

_It was the end of the school day for the children of the industrial city of Fouzen. Karl was walking home when he got ambushed by two older kids who always bullied him, Austin and Leonard. _

_"Hey specs! Give us your homework!" said Austin. _

_"M-m-my name is Karl" said Karl. _

_"We don't care what your name is! All we know is that you're smart and you finish your homework earlier then everyone else, so give it to us so we can copy it!" yelled Leonard. _

_Then they proceeded to push him down and kick dirt in his face. Karl really wanted to stand up for himself. But he was afraid that they would hurt him, so he just laid there and took the punishment._

_Suddenly, he felt a presence in front of him. In front of him was a dark-haired girl. He instantly knew who it was, his best friend Lynn. _

_"Why don't you guys leave him alone? He didn't do anything to you!" yelled Lynn. _

_"Pfft, wow specs, you really are pathetic. Having a dark-hair fight your battles." mocked Austin._

_Lynn was slightly offended by what they said to her, being that she is a darcsen. But Karl's safety mattered more to her._

_"Come on, let's get out of here. This kid isn't even worth it." Leonard said. _

_They both left Karl and Lynn alone. Lynn helped Karl up from the ground. _

_Karl adjusted his glasses and said, "Thank you for standing up for me Lynn. I'm sorry I had to put you through that." _

_"Karl!" said Lynn. "You have to learn to stand up for yourself. I won't be there every time you get bullied or hurt. So you got to be a man and toughen up!" _

_"Ah- I-I'll try to Lynn."_

_Karl knew that she was right, he had to stand up for himself. But whenever he faced danger, he just gets paralyzed with fear. Preventing him from doing anything. He thought he would be like this for the rest of his life. But, with support from his best friend Lynn, perhaps there was still hope for him yet…_


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter introduces Kevin Abbot. One of the people Karl likes according to the game. Now, I haven't played as him much so I did a little research on him through reading his personal bio, and playing as him for a while. I'll try my best to keep him in character. Also thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter for giving me tips to improve my story telling.**

**Chapter 2**:Meeting the team

"Ah, Private Landzatt, please sit down." said Captain Varrot.

"Y-yes ma'am" said Karl.

"I am Captain Varrot, commandeer of the third regiment. If you have any questions, you can report to me." She looked at Karl's personal file. "Hmm, according to this you signed up to be an engineer correct?"

"Yes ma'am, I used to work at an ironworks back at Fouzen, so I have a decent knowledge of machinery." Explained Karl.

" I see, well then, Private Landzatt, you will be assigned to Squad 7. Make sure to get to know your new teammates. Because from now on, this is your new family, at least until the war is over." said Varrot.

"T-thank you ma'am, I'll be on my way." said Karl.

Karl entered his squad leader's office. He saw him at his desk.

Oh, hello, you must be our latest recruit, I'm Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, please come up.

Karl walked up to his new commander, with sweat running down his brow. "M-my name is Karl Landzatt sir. It's a pleasure to join you."

"The pleasure's all mine, and please, call me Welkin."

"Um, okay sir, I-I mean Welkin."

"Why don't you go to the barracks and introduce yourself to everyone? I'm sure you'll find someone to connect too."

Karl was really surprised, he thought his new squad leader was going to be like the Drill Sergeant he met earlier today, but this guy was completely different to what he imagined him to be. He worried he may be a bit too soft, but decided not to think about it.

Soon, Karl went into the Squad 7 barracks. It was much larger then he had expected, large enough to hold a tank even, and sure enough, he saw one. But this tank was a different model then the tanks he saw in other parts of the base, it was larger, and wider then other tanks.

"That's the Edelweiss." a voice behind him said.

Karl jumped at the sudden sound from behind. He looked behind him and saw two girls. One was a darcsen girl wearing a shawl, and utilities around her waist, the other was a brown haired girl in pigtails wearing a red scarf on her head.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you." said the darcsen girl.

"N-no, it's alright, I was just so interested in this tank I guess I got distracted." said Karl.

"You must be the newest recruit, I'm Sergeant Alicia Melchiott, Lieutenant Gunther's subordinate. Said the pigtailed girl.

"And I'm Isara Gunther, I'm the tank pilot of the Edelweiss." said the darcsen girl.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Karl Landzatt, engineer, wait, you said your name is Gunther?"

"That's right, I'm the Lietenant's sister, I know it seems strange, but,…

"It's okay, you don't have to get into it."

"Why, don't you introduce yourself to the rest of the squad? They should be in the mess hall right about now." said Alicia.

"Thank you Ms. Melchiott."

"That's Sergeant Melchiott to you."

"Y-yes ma'am!"

_

As Karl enters the mess hall, he sees several people separated into separate groups. After he gets his lunch, he looks around for a table he could sit at, he sees a table with an empty seat, occupying the table was a red haired girl with corkscrew pigtails, a guy with silver hair covering most of his face, and another guy with a mop-style hairdo. He walked over to the table in hopes of making new friends.

"H-hello, my name is Karl Landzatt, mind if I sit with you?" The red haired girl and silver haired guy paid no heed. But the mop haired boy said: "S-sure go ahead."

As Karl sat down, the mop haired boy introduced himself.

"I'm Kevin… Kevin Abbott., pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." said Karl.

"So… where you from? Said the red haired girl.

"I-I came from Fouzen."

"Ugh, that place is filled with dark-hairs. The stench must be unbearable." said the grey haired guy.

"Um, excuse me?" asked Karl.

"You heard me, dark-hairs smell awful."

"It's bad enough we have to work with darksens in our sqaud." followed the red haired girl.

She pointed to a table with two darcsen soldier. One had curly hair with glasses and a goatee, the other had hair that reached to her neck.

"Well, I don't think darcsens are so bad." said Karl.

As soon as he said that, he felt a hard punch to the face. Karl fell off his seat and on to the floor, his glasses fell off of him.

"You better watch you tone four eyes." growled the grey haired guy.

Kevin meekly said "Cezary p-please, he…

"Shut up Kevin! This isn't about you!"

The red haired girl got up and was about to join Cezary in the beating, Karl closed his eyes and hoped he isn't hurt too badly. The suddenly, he felt a presence in front of him.

"L-Lynn?" Karl thought. He opened his eyes to see if it was her. Instead he sees a large bulky man with brown hair in front of him.

"Hey! Break it up! Cezary leave the kid alone!" said the large bulky man.

Cezary, just scoffed and walked out of the mess hall.

"And Rosie, I saw you trying to help that guy, you oughta be ashamed."

"Hey I was trying to help Largo!" said Rosie.

"No Rosie, I saw the whole thing. I know what's up."

Rosie scoffed as well and followed Cezary. Largo helped Karl off the ground.

"Word of advice kid, you don't wanna have people around here saying you like Darcsens. It only gets you in trouble." said Largo.

"U-understood sir." said Karl meekly.

The whole mess hall stared at Karl. Suddenly Karl didn't felt hungry anymore. He left the mess hall.

_

Later that night, Karl recollected what had happened that day. He wished he could go back in time and get himself to stand up for himself, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Lynn… where are you?" he thought to himself.

**Well, that's it for this chapter, hope you guys liked it. Next chapter we delve even further into Karl's past. See you then! And once again, please tell me if there is anything I should improve on!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I've decided to sort of make a pattern to this fan fiction. I will alternate chapters with the main story and Karl's past. So this chapter you will read about Karl in his pre existing relationship with Lynn, next chapter we will get back to the main story. I will repeat this process until the time where Karl finally proposes to Lynn. **

**(This was reuploaded to clarify this took place a while before EWll started)**

**Chapter 3:** Strange Feeling

August, 1934 EC

_The sun was setting in Fouzen, everyone was heading back from work to their homes and families, getting ready for the next day. Karl was no exception to this fate, as his day of work at the ironworks has finally came to an end. As he walked home, he looked at the several automobiles powered by ragnite. He was quite amazed at how mankind was able to harness the power of minerals and use it for it's own benefit. Of course he also wonders, will ragnite also cause it's downfall, considering it is not a limitless source? As Karl ponders this he didn't see what was in front of him, and bumped into someone carrying groceries. Produce fell all over the ground._

_"Ah-ah! I'm sorry!" Karl said . "Let me help you pick those up!"_

_As he bent his knees to pick up the food lying everywhere, he looked up and saw the person carrying them._

_"Oh, Lynn! Hi!" Karl said_

_"Oh, hello Karl." Lynn said with a warm smile on her face._

_After they picked everything back up, they sat at the closest bench to talk about what is happening in their lives._

_"S-so Lynn, Karl asked nervously, anything new?"_

_Lynn frowned at the question. "Well, my mother has been sick for a while lately, I had to get her groceries for her."_

_"R-really? What's wrong?" Karl asked._

_"I'm not sure, the doctor hasn't told us anything yet." Lynn sighed_

_"Well, I'm sure she'll be okay." Karl said with a assuring look on his face._

_A smile spread across Lynn's face, she looked at Karl and asked "Do you really think so?"_

_Then Karl noticed her hair blowing in the wind, it was almost hypnotizing to see it move, but then he saw Lynn's eyes, he never realized how pretty they were, her blue eyes were as bright as a diamond reflecting off the sun. _

_Lynn, noticing that Karl was staring right towards her direction, raised an eyebrow, "Um, Karl? Are you alright?"_

_Karl suddenly realized what he was doing and tried to make an excuse._

_"Uh, uh…" he fidgeted his hands. "Sorry I guess I was just staring into space, yeah that's it space!" _

_Lynn started to look puzzled. "Um, okay…"_

_"I-I just realized something there's something I gotta do back at home! See ya!"_

_He quickly ran as fast as he could away from Lynn. She watched Karl run with an ever increasing puzzled look._

_"What was that all about?" Lynn thought._

_Karl finally stopped to catch his breath. He looked back and thought to himself,_

_"What was that just now??"_

_He then remembered having similar incidents like that happen before when ever he was around Lynn, but never had he actually stared straight at her. Then he realized something, could he have feelings for her?_

_"No, no, that can't be it! She's a darcsen, and I'm…"_

_But there was no denying it, he had fallen in love with her. What should he do? Darcsens were never welcome into society in the first place, and if he were to have a relationship with her, both he and she would be isolated from their respective social groups. But most of all, he wondered how would she react if he told her. He was afraid to know the answer. He didn't want to ruin the friendship he and Lynn established for themselves, but at the same time, he didn't want to deny his own feelings. Karl went home and made himself dinner, then he went to bed, he couldn't sleep at all that night…_

**Well, that's it for this chapter. Sorry it was a bit short, but this was the best thing I could come up with. Either way I hoped you liked it. And as usual, please tell me if there is anything I should improve on. I would very much appreciate it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:** The Barious Desert

Things weren't going well with Karl so far, ever since the incident with Cezary Regard and Rosie Stark, almost everyone in the squad ignored him, in fear that they will be isolated from their squad members as well for being a "darcsen lover". Karl ended up eating his meals while sitting at a table by himself. He was pretty lonely by himself, until the two darsens Rosie pointed out from the other day approached him.

"Hello, mind if we sit with you?" asked the darcsen with glasses.

Happy that someone finally decided to actually sit with him, he enthusiastically said, "Sure!"

The two darcsens introduced themselves.

"My name is Wavy." said the darcsen with glasses.

"And I'm Nadine" said the long haired darcsen with a friendly smile.

They sat together and ate. Karl learned from his newfound friends that Wavy was a schoolteacher from his hometown, and that Nadine had a master's degree in literature. Then, they started to ask Karl questions.

"So, what made you join the militia Karl?" asked Wavy

"Well, you see, my fiancé, Lynn and I were separated when we were supposed to evacuate Fouzen. An imperial raid attacked and we were separated by the crowd. I'm not sure whether she made it out or is still in there, but I'm hoping that I'll find her if I joined the militia."

"How do you know she's still alive?" Nadine asked

"Nadine!" Wavy snapped

"Oops" Nadine quickly placed her hands over her mouth with a guilty look.

Karl suddenly frowned, he never thought about if Lynn was even alive. And if she wasn't, what would he do? He wouldn't have any purpose if she wasn't around in his life.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that! Cheer up!" Nadine tried to reassure him. "There's no guarantee she's dead either."

Then the intercom activated. "Squad 7 report to the hangar! We have a new mission" Lieutenant Welkin Gunther's voice echoed throughout the mess hall.

-

Everyone in Squad 7 was all lined up and standing at attention in front of Welkin. Karl was quite amazed at how orderly everyone is, normally there would be large unruly crowds when in the mess hall.

"Squad 7, we have been given orders to investigate possible imperial activity in the Barious Desert ." Welkin said. "Our mission is to verify that they are there or not, and if possible to exterminate it. We will be leaving tomorrow."

Most of the squad moaned no anticipation. It was hot in the Barious Dessert and they were not looking forward to it. For Karl this was going to be his first real battle. He was nervous and sweated profusely even after the announcement ended. But then he remembered that his new friend Wavy and Nadine will back him up, and he felt a little better. As the squad was getting ready to head back to their quarters, Karl felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Kevin Abbott from yesterday.

"L-listen, I'm sorry about Cezary yesterday. He can be rather aggressive." Kevin said.

"Oh, don't worry about it, it's not your fault." Karl replied.

"Well anyway, I want to say good luck tomorrow on the mission , I'll help you out if I can."

"Karl smiled and said "thanks"

-

It was afternoon in the Barious Dessert, everyone was rather miserable in the heat. Thankfully, the Lieutenant brought watermelons for everyone to help cool down. Unfortunately they didn't had very long to enjoy their snack.

"Squad 7, combat formation!" ordered Welkin from his tank, the Edelweiss.

Karl was placed with the Edelweiss itself, his duty was to keep the Edelweiss in tip top shape throughout the operation. With him was coincidentally, Kevin to give him cover, unfortunately also with him to provide cover was Rosie.

Rosie glared at Karl and told him, "Listen Landzatt, I'm only protecting you because I was ordered too, so don't think were friends ya got that?"

Karl said with a slightly nervous tone, "T-think nothing of it."

Before he knew it, there bullets flying everywhere. Karl tried to remain calm as he kept pace with the Edelweiss. Kevin and Rosie followed. Suddenly, he felt a bullet flew right by in front of him, he turned to see and imperial cocking a rifle at him.

"Ah- ah!!" Karl shielded himself with his hands, hoping he'd miss. But after a few seconds, he looked and saw the imperial lying dead on the ground, Rosie and Kevin took care of him.

-

Meanwhile, Wavy and Nadine were accompanying Largo and his fellow lancers, Jann, and Walter to provide cover fire and ammunition as they held back the tanks rolling towards them. A tank rolled up and fired a mortar at them.

"Get down!!" Largo yelled.

They all hid behind the sand bags and the mortar exploded harmlessly right in front of their cover. The three lancers all fired their lances almost at the same time obliterating the tank.

Jann cooed, "Nice work Largo!! You know how to work it!"

Walter felt a little dejected when he congratulated Largo, after all he helped too.

Wavy then saw a glare off a sniper rifle from the distance, by the look of the direction it was pointing it was aiming straight at Nadine, who was out in the open carrying fresh ammunition for the lancers.

"Nadine look out!" He pulled her down just before the bullet hit her head.

"Nadine looked at the hole the bullet left and let out a sigh of relief. Then they both quickly hid behind cover.

-

Eventually, the battle was over. Squad 7 was able to capture the enemy's base. Karl felt a huge since of relief that he was able to survive his first battle. And was even more relieved knowing Wavy and Nadine survived as well. In fact, everyone who fought in the battle had survived with just a few soldiers who had to be under the medic's care. He was also really amazed at Welkin, he was a great leader even considering his age and the short amount of time spent in the militia. He was definitely Belgian Gunther's son alright.

As the sun set, he thought that they would finally head back to base and rest up a while. But then he felt a violent tremor, and almost at the same time, Welkin ordered everyone at their stations. Karl wondered what was going on, his question was immediately answered when he saw something huge in the distance. And it was heading right towards them…


	5. Chapter 5

**For this chapter, we go through the eyes of Lynn, and see what she thinks of the situation at hand.**

**Chapter 5: Gain and Loss**

August, 1934 E.C.

_Lynn was on her way home after getting groceries for herself and her sick mother. Along the way, she wondered what was going on through her friend Karl's mind after the conversation they had a few minutes ago. She opened the door to her house and put the groceries away. She then went to her mother's room to see how she was doing. She had long hair much like her daughter, but unlike Lynn, who kept her hair in __a bun, she lets her hair down to her shoulders, and normally she was bright eyed too, but now, her eyes were dull and her skin was pale. _

"_Were you able to get the groceries Lynn?" asked her mother weakly._

"_Yep, got enough to last us a week did anything happen while I was gone?" asked Lynn_

"_No, I'm fine dear."_

_Lynn brought a stool so she can sit next to her mother's bed. This way they can have a conversation with one another while she consoles her. _

"_The doctor said he'll bring out the test results tomorrow." Lynn said_

"_Good, good" her mother replied._

_Her mother sat up straight to get to eye level with her and continued, "I really hope I'm not becoming a burden on you Lynn…"_

"_No, no! You're what matters to me most right now. Everything else can wait."_

_Her mother smiled. "So, did you meet any of your friends while out on your errands?"_

_Lynn recalled the conversation she had with Karl. "Well, I talked with Karl on the way home, he wasn't looking where he was going and knocked all the groceries off of me."_

_Both her and her mother laughed, then Lynn continued, "Another thing that happened was that I asked him a simple question…"_

"_What did you ask him?" her mother interrupted._

"_Uh, well, you see, I was telling about how you were sick, and then he said that you will get better, then I asked if he really thought so…"_

_Lynn then raised her eyebrow, "Then, he started to stare at me, like I had something on my face. It was really strange, and when I asked him what he was doing, he just stammered and ran off."_

_Her mother smiled and said, "Sounds like he has a thing for you Lynn."_

"_W-What?!?" Lynn's face suddenly turned bright red. "N-no way, that can't be it at all!" she said with an embarrassed smile on her face._

_Her mother laughed and then said "Lynn, your father basically acted the same way towards me before we got serious. Sigh those were fond memories." _

"_But, Mother, you and he were both darcsens. Karl and I are…" _

_Her mother placed her hand on hers, "Lynn, it doesn't matter whether you are darcsen, blonde, or brunette, love is blind. Your father came from a rather rich lifestyle, while I was poor growing up, but that didn't stop us from being together. Sure, people may look down on us and thought it would never work out, but until the day he died, your father remained by my side through the most stressful times. And took care of me if I was sick like I am right now, and I would do the same for him. I loved him, and somewhere up in heaven, I'm sure he must think of me still."_

_Lynn took her words into thought, she did felt very comfortable while she was around Karl, but it was the kind of comfort that didn't come from her mother or her father. No, it was a special kind of comfort that gave her a sense of meaning, a sense of warmth._

"_Whatever you do Lynn, just remember to follow your heart, do what you think is best for your life." _

_Lynn's mother then laid her head back on the pillow, and slowly closed her eyes, and her grip on Lynn's hand slowly loosened. _

_Lynn, noticed her mother's hand lost it's grip, she waited for her mother to pull it back, but it didn't. Twenty seconds passed and her hand hasn't moved. Lynn then made a horrifying realization, she quickly checked her mother's pulse, nothing._

"_No…" Lynn thought. _

_She then quickly got to her mother's body and checked for her heartbeat. She couldn't hear anything. Her eyes widened , she then decided to perform CPR on her. _

_No, Lynn thought. "No, you can't die! You can't!!" Tears were streaming down her face as she constantly performed CPR on her, desperate to save her mother. But it was no use, her mother has passed, there was nothing left she could do._

"_Mother…" Lynn whispered softly._

"_MOTHEEEEEEERRRRRR!!" she cried out loud. She laid on top of her mother's bed and cried her eyes out. She couldn't sleep at all that night…_

**Well, that's it for this chapter. For some reason, I seem to do better when writing about what I think happened between the protagonists as apposed to reiterating what happened in the main story, kinda strange. Anyway I hope you liked this chapter and as usual, give me advice on anything I may need to improve on. (Also, what kind of hairstlye does Lynn have? I'm not an expert on hairstyles so I can't really tell, so I had to guess. Please tell me if you know, if I'm wrong I'll just edit it.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Giant Tank**

**(Gah, so many grammar and spelling errors! I can't believe I missed them the first time! Well, hopefully I got at least the majority of them, and also at the same time improved your experience reading this.)**

Karl stared into the distance at a huge tank heading towards Squad 7's position, he was shaking uncontrollably as the thing moved closer and closer towards them.

"Lancers, Engineers, get into the bunkers!" commanded Welkin.

Karl ran along side Largo and Theold, a man with a blonde mullet, he felt uncomfortable around him being that he was one of the people in the squad who hated darcsens, and he liked to talk down at him, but they both knew they had to work together to survive this war.

-

Meanwhile Nadine was assigned with Hector, a lancer who wore a white headband around his head, and Audrey, who despite her rather regal appearance, was actually one of the better lancers in the squad. They were all on the bunker opposite of Karl and the others, while Wavy was sent to higher ground to provide reconnaissance with the snipers and other scouts. Rosie and the other shocktroopers were left to defend the main base from incoming imperials.

As the giant tank rolled in closer, Welkin ordered, "That tank is our target! We have to stop it! Squad 7 move out!"

He then positioned the Edelweiss to prepare to fire at the tank. As the giant tank rolled in, all the lancers began to fire at it, but it had left no effect on it.

"Damn it! Not even a dent!" Largo yelled in frustration.

The tank's turrets that were cleverly positioned on the sides of it, fired upon the troops in the bunkers, the hailstorm of bullets forced them to duck.

"Aghhh!" Karl yelled in terror.

Was this it? Was Squad 7 doomed to be annihilated by this monstrosity? Would he forever lose his chances of finding Lynn through death?

"Stop your crying darcsen lover and refill my lance!" yelled Theold in a conceited voice.

Karl then loaded new ammunition into Theold's lance.

-

Meanwhile, Rosie, Hannes, Jane, and Kevin were fending off charging imperial troops from their base camp.

"Die imps!" Jane, a black haired women with an almost ghostly and cruel face shouted as she gunned down some shock troopers.

"Help Jane!" Hannes, a man with long, brown, curly hair said as he shot down the ones she missed.

Meanwhile Kevin was doing his best to stop soldiers coming from his side, but kept missing, and the ones that were to close to him had to be taken down by Rosie.

"Abbot, pick up the slack!" Rosie yelled.

"I knew I should've been a engineer or sniper…" Kevin said to himself.

-

Soon, the tank was at Squad 7's first camp, rather then taking it over like any imperial soldier would, the commandeer of the tank simply bulldozed over it.

"Grrr.. He's just going to mow our camps down!" Welkin growled in frustration

"There's got to be some kind of weak point…"

-

As the battle raged on, the giant tank stopped at a large piece of rubble in the way, it aimed it's huge cannon and fired, blowing everything in it's radius to pieces. Then, strange looking machines popped out from the top of the tank.

"Huh? What are those?" Karl wondered.

Then after a closer look he recognized them as radiators, heat sinks to cool down the tank's temperature.

"7's! New plan!" Welkin ordered. "Take out those turrets so our ground troops can climb those ladders and throw grenades into those radiators."

Karl suddenly realized that he was the only soldier in the group that had grenades, he knew he had to get up to one of the radiators.

"Ok, lancers! Fire at the turrets!" Largo yelled.

-

Hector and Audrey were firing at the turrets on their end, Audrey fired at one turret and blew it up.

Satisfied with herself she yelled, "Woo hoo! I got one!"

When both turrets were taken out, Nadine ran up the ladder on the side of the tank and reached the radiator, she grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin.

"For my friends!" She yelled as she threw the grenade into the radiator.

The radiator then blew up, while the other radiators retreated back inside the tank. Suddenly, the tank resumed moving, it's cool down time was finished.

Nadine started to lose her balance, then fell off the tank. Nadine screamed in terror as she fell, she then felt herself being in someone's arms. Audrey, who wasn't far behind had caught her.

"*sigh* Thank you Audrey. Nadine sighed

"Hee hee, no problem." Audrey giggled

-

The giant tank continued it's rampage, it kept moving until it needed to cool down again. This time it was Alicia's turn, as she was ordered to hide behind cover next to a big pile of rubble so she can climb up and destroy the next radiator.

"Ok, Welkin I'm heading towards the target." Alicia confirmed

"Good, make sure to get off as soon as you destroy the radiator, you don't want to fall off." Welkin said

Alicia quickly climbed the ladder and threw the grenade into the second radiator, it blew up with a satisfying explosion. She quickly got off before the tank started to move again.

-

Karl's turn was coming up, he and his group caught up with the tank and were getting ready to get to the final radiator.

"We may actually get through this!" Karl said out loud with a smile.

And why wouldn't they? The whole squad had surrounded it, getting ready to attack, there was no way to lose.

But then, Welkin yelled, "Everyone! Take cover!"

"Huh??" Karl thought

Almost immediately after he said that, a blue beam flew over them.

"What the hell was that"? Largo wondered

As Karl turned to see the origin of the blast, he was filled with both a sense of awe and dread.

Out in the distance, a women with a blue aura came towards them, charging at full speed. She had long silver hair, piercing red eyes, and in her hands were a lance and shield.

"No… it can't be…" Karl thought

But it was, it was something only told in legends, fairy tales, and history books, a Valkyria.

"Come on Karl! Get over here!" Largo yelled from the nearby trenches.

Karl saw his comrades already in cover, before he could move, he saw that the Valkyria had his sights set on him. Karl froze in fear, he couldn't move his legs. He was going to die and he knew it, he closed his eyes and awaited his fate.

But then, the Valkyria raised her shield and deflected a sniper bullet, she turned towards the source of the bullet. Karl realized this was his chance to escape, he quickly ran back to where Largo and Theold were. He looked and saw the sniper that saved him, Marina Wulfstan, a black haired women who normally kept to herself back at base, but in the battlefield, she made sure everyone who was in danger was safe.

"What the hell were you doing out there you idiot!?!" Theold yelled.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I just froze." Karl stammered.

"Well, don't do that again!" Theold said

"Heh, have a soft spot for him Theold?" Largo teased

"No! Without him I would have no one to refill my lance!" Theold said as he pointed his nose up in the air.

Suddenly, Karl saw as the third and final radiator was raised, he knew it was his turn. He was terrified, knowing that the Valkyria would blast him to bits if he was caught out here.

Then he saw the Edelweiss move and blocked his view of the Valkyria.

"Go Karl! I'll keep her busy!" Welkin ordered through the radio.

Karl was surprised that his leader would risk his own life just to protect someone like him. He suddenly felt a sense of pride being part of this squad. He started running as fast as he could towards the giant tank. He climbed up the monstrosity and got to the radiator.

This was it, he had one grenade left, the other two were spent fending off approaching enemies from the lancers earlier in the battle. The fate of the squad depended on him and this one grenade, if he missed, the squad is doomed.

"Please hit!" Karl yelled as he threw the grenade, he watched as it went down into the radiator, and detonated, destroying the radiator.

"I-I did it!" Karl said. "I did it!!"

He got off the machine and retreated to where everyone else is preparing to finish off the tank.

"All right! That's the last of the radiators!" Welkin exclaimed.

"Ok, everybody, concentrate fire on that tank!" he ordered

Soon a hailstorm of lancer fire was bombarding the now weakened tank, and it was practically falling apart as the payload hit. Suddenly, the Valkyria jumped onto the tank, but instead of attacking the enemy, she blew open the top of the commanding part of the tank and pulled out a man in regal looking clothes. Karl instantly recognized who it was, Prince Maximilian of the empire, he was the leader of the empire's Gallian invasion forces. With the escort of other imperials, they soon escaped, the battle was over.

Then, Karl noticed Nadine, Wavy, Kevin, and other members of the squad running up to him.

"Wow! You did it Karl! We couldn't have done this without you!" Nadine exclaimed.

"T-thanks Nadine, but you destroyed a radiator too, you deserve credit too" Karl said with a sheepish smile

Wavy then stepped in and said, "Yes but, normally, you would be too afraid to do such a brave thing. You overcame your fear of dying and did what you needed to do."

"Heh, now I _really_ wished I became an engineer, great job Karl!" Kevin said as he patted him on the shoulder.

Karl was filled with joy, he knew he _can _become a man that could protect Lynn. He then let out a huge sigh and fell over.

"Karl? Karl! Nadine panicked, for Karl had passed out…

**Phew, that was my longest chapter yet. Sorry this took so long, I'm still thinking about what I should do for the next chapter. Anyway I hoped you enjoyed it. And once again please… you know what? I'm not even going to say it this time, you know what to do.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:** Tea for Two

Beginning of September, 1935 E.C.

_It was a sunny morning in Fouzen, Karl awoke to see the sun shining into his room and smiled, he liked sunny days, they usually meant that the day will be pleasant. As Karl was on his way to work, he checked to see if Lynn was on her way too. She usually traveled the same path he did heading to work, and Karl enjoyed her presence. Even though they barely spoke to one another. But Karl noticed that Lynn wasn't there like she normally was._

"_Hmm, she must have taken a different route today." thought Karl._

_The next day, Karl proceeded as before, walking to work, only to find that Lynn still wasn't on her regular path._

"_She must be having a sick day" thought Karl._

_But it was not until the third day that Lynn wasn't around that Karl started to worry._

"_I really hope she's alright." Karl said out loud to himself with a worried look on his face._

_-_

_Finally, three days later, Karl decided to check up on Lynn to see if she was alright. He headed towards the darcsen district where the darcsens lived. As he walked into the district, he was stared at by darcsens, wondering what business he had doing in their turf. Karl was scared, but he did his best to keep his composure. As he walked, he noticed how most of the darcsens had lived, the houses mostly consisted of shacks. Very few of them actually lived in real houses, others don't even have homes, they instead lived in alleys scrounging around for food because they don't have enough money to actually buy themselves groceries from the stores outside the district. Karl looked on with sympathy, he felt bad for the way the darcen community had to live in Fouzen._

_Finally, he got to Lynn's home, she and her mother were one of the few people who actually own a house in the darcsen district. It was mostly due to her father's influence, being one of the wealthier darcsens. He remembered playing at this house with Lynn when they were young children and how much fun they had together. They were the best of friends, and Karl believed that they would be nothing more than that, but here he was now, in love with her, and terrified to know how she would react if he told her._

_He knocked on the door, while he waited he adjusted his glasses, he didn't want to look like a fool in front of Lynn. Thirty seconds have passed, Karl still waited, he waited for twenty more seconds, wondering what is taking Lynn so long, he was getting ready to leave when he heard the door unlock._

_He saw the person who answered was indeed Lynn, he was glad to see she was okay, but then that feeling was gone as soon as he got a good look at her, she was red-eyed with tears rolling down her face._

"_L-Lynn! What's wrong?" Karl asked with a slight panic in his voice._

_He never saw her like this, normally Lynn was always confident looking and happy, rarely was she ever sad. And here she was, she almost looked like a completely different person. Lynn looked up at Karl, and almost immediately, she embraced him. Karl felt his cheeks burn as soon as she did, he felt an immense feeling of comfort and felt at ease, but then he remembered that Lynn was sad, and that comfort went away._

"_Karl…" she chocked out. _

"_M-my mother…"_

"_W-what happened to her?" Karl asked still feeling a little panicked_

"_S-s-she's gone…"_

_Lynn then cried out after she got her sentence out. The sounds of her crying hurt Karl, he couldn't bare to see her like this._

"_Lynn, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry" Karl whispered_

_Lynn then realized something, "W-wait, what are you even doing here Karl?" _

"_I-I was just checking to see if anything happened to you." Karl replied "I haven't seen you in days and I was worried." _

_Lynn's eyes widened , her mother was right, he did care about her. All this time, she was oblivious to how Karl was acting around her. She thought that was just part of his normal behavior, considering how he was when they were children._

"_Karl, I…" she finally said after a long silence._

"_Thank you." she said with a tiny smile._

_Karl smiled back at her, he was glad to know that she will be alright now. _

_A long silence had passed, and then eventually, Karl asked_

"_Um, do you want to be alone? And, maybe, I'll come back another time, when you're better?" _

"_No, I want you to stay here with me. I need someone to talk to" Lynn replied_

"_O-okay." Karl said timidly._

_-_

_Karl was inside Lynn's house, he had not been in her house since they were children, so he felt a sense of nostalgia while inside. Soon, he and Lynn were in the living room drinking tea. Lynn, with a melancholy voice, told her how her mother died._

"_According to the doctor, she contracted a fatal disease. It causes a breaking down of the immune system and left her weakened to the elements."_

_Lynn sipped her tea and continued, " It started with her coughing, which started out small, but eventually became more and more violent. And, as time went by…" her lips quivered, "her skin became pale, and she had to stay in bed all the time. I stayed by her bed every day, making sure she ate plenty of food to keep her going, I could've gave her medicine to help her get better, but I didn't know what her problem was, so I didn't."_

_Lynn then looked down and finished, "If only I found out what was wrong with her sooner, she would still be here."_

"_Lynn, it wasn't your fault." Karl said_

"_You did the best you could Lynn. I'm sure your mother was happy knowing you were there caring for her all the way to the end." _

_Karl with a smile on his face finished, "You never gave up on her Lynn, she would happy knowing you care that much for her"_

_Lynn, looked up and smiled, "Thank you Karl, thank you so much."_

_She then went over to Karl and hugged him. Karl smiled, knowing he made her happy, he then looked and saw the clock behind her and had a horrifying realization._

"_Oh no! I'm really late for work!" Karl yelled._

"_Sorry Lynn, I have to go!" Karl said as he got up and headed towards the door._

"_Karl, wait!" Lynn grabbed his shoulder._

_She leaned over and whispered with a smile, "I wasn't done yet"_

_Karl then felt Lynn's lips pressed on his cheek, his face turned bright red._

"_Okay, now go quickly!" Lynn said _

_-_

_Karl was heading towards the ironworks where he worked, he was really late. As he walked closer and closer to his station, he hoped that his boss didn't notice._

"_Landzatt!! Where the hell have you been?!?" his boss yelled in his gruff voice._

"_S-sorry sir! I-I-I was just taking care of p-personal matters!" Karl stuttered with fear_

"_Well, don't do it again! Just be glad I'm not firing you for your incompetence!" _

_Karl headed to his station, relieved that the ordeal was over. As he got himself ready, he thought back to that fateful moment back at Lynn's house, perhaps he did have a chance with her after all…_

**That's all for this chapter. Hope you liked it. And as usual, please give me any feedback on anything I could improve on even slightly**_._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: **The Nightmare

_Karl awoke and found himself in a very unfamiliar place, everything was pitch black, he couldn't see anything._

"_Where am I?" he thought to himself._

"_And how did I get here?"_

_As Karl tried to get a better grasp of his surroundings, he noticed a bright light from across the distance. Karl was suddenly terrified, he had heard that a light at the end of a bright tunnel meant you were on the brink of death, so he tried to run away from it. As he ran, he looked back and realized the light was getting closer. He pushed himself to run faster, but it was no use, the light caught up with him. Karl closed his eyes and hoped his death would end quickly._

_But instead, he opened his eyes to find himself back in Fouzen, he thought it was all just a bad dream, but he soon realized he was not in his room like he would normally when he woke up. Instead, he was outside, in his military attire. He wondered what was going on, as he walked he felt something underneath his foot. He looked down to see a body, but not just any body, the body of a dead soldier, and not just any soldier, it was Nadine._

"_Nadine! No!" he quickly stepped back, only to step on another body, this one belonged to Kevin._

"_No! What happened?!?" _

_He then looked up and saw the Edelweiss up in flames, along with several dead bodies of his fellow squad members, Alicia, Largo, Rosie, Isara, and Welkin, everyone was dead. _

"_This can't be happening, no!! Karl shouted in terror. _

_But then, he looked to see a bunch of imperial soldiers surrounding a lone person. He wondered who it was, he ducked behind cover and slowly made his way closer to where the group of imps were, until he got a good look at who they were surrounding, Karl let out an inaudible "no" when he saw who it was, Lynn._

_One of the imperials was cocking his rifle to Lynn's head, she closed her eyes, awaiting her fate. _

"_Lynn! No! No! Take me instead! Not her!" Karl yelled as loud as he could._

_But it was no use, the imperial pulled the safety trigger and prepared to fire…_

_-_

Karl woke up with sweat all over his body, he looked around and found himself in a bed, inside the base's medical center.

"It was all just a dream…" Karl said with relief.

Just then, Fina walked in, she was a blonde haired girl who's job was to care for the injured soldiers she could rescue.

"Oh! You're finally awake!" Fina said with a smile.

"W-what happened to me?" Karl asked.

"Back at Barious, you fainted after that battle with the giant tank. You were out cold for days, we thought you were never going to wake up."

Fina placed a plate of food next to Karl's bed.

"Make sure you eat it, you'll need to eat in order to get better."

Karl looked at his food, it consisted of milk, and vegetables, compliments of Largo, he grew a vegetable garden at the base to give his fellow squad members something good to eat.

-

Not long after Karl finished his food, Nadine and Wavy came into the room.

"Karl! You're awake! I'm so glad!" Nadine exclaimed.

"Oh hey guys! Uh, sorry to worry you guys" Karl said, a little embarrassed

"No need, it was only natural your body needed to rest after that ordeal." Wavy said.

"Hey Fina, do you think Karl is well enough to walk around base with us? We made some new friends and we would like Karl to meet them." Nadine asked Fina.

"Well, okay, but not for too long, he still needs some rest." Fina replied

-

Karl walked along side Nadine and Wavy around the base.

"I must've been out for a long time, Barious was a really long way from base." Karl said.

"You were out for a week, we were worried you wouldn't wake up." Wavy explained

"A week?!? Was I really that fatigued?"

"Yeah, I guess seeing giant tanks takes a lot out of you!" Nadine laughed.

Soon, the three met up with the "new friends" that Karl was told about. They were out next to the running track talking to each other. One was a silver haired girl with pigtails and blue ribbons, the other was a boy with blond, curly hair. Karl saw them before in the mess hall, but never actually had the chance talk with them. As soon as they saw the three, they went over and introduced themselves.

The blonde haired boy spoke, "Hello, my name is Homer, and this is…"

Just then the girl punched him hard right in the face. Karl flinched at the sight.

"Homer! I'm the one who introduces ourselves!" she yelled.

"S-sorry Ms. Edy…"

"Hello, my name is Edy Nelson, and this is…"

"Is he going to be alright?!?" Karl panicked.

"Oh he'll be fine, he enjoys getting hit by me. Don't you Homer?" Edy said as she looked down onto Homer, who was lying on the ground.

"Mmmm, yes, I do. Heh heh…" Homer said.

Karl was bewildered, these are the strangest people he has seen so far during his time in the militia. Although he chose not to say it out loud, he didn't want to offend them.

"So anyway, I thought that you did a dazzling performance back in the Barious dessert, so I thought you would like to join my posse, you know, to make myself look even more glamorous then I am now!" Edy said with a confident smile.

"What Ms. Edy means is, would you like to be our friend?" Homer explained.

"Homer don't interrupt me!" Edy said angrily.

"Uh, sure, I'll be glad too!" Karl said.

Karl was glad he finally made some new friends here at the base. It made his time here feel a lot less lonesome. Just then, he saw a black haired women, who's hair covered half her face walk by. He instantly recognized who it was, Marina, the sniper who saved him back at Barious, he decided to run over to her to thank her.

"H-hey! I was still talking! Edy scolded.

"Oh! S-sorry, I just needed to thank Marina really quick for something." Karl explained, realizing his mistake.

Edy didn't usually liked being ignored, but she had heard what happened at Barious so she decided to let him slide. Karl ran over to Marina.

"H-hey! Marina!"

Marina turned her head to see who was talking to her. As Karl got a better look at her face, he froze in fear at the sight of her icy glare.

"Well? What do you want?" Marina asked impatiently.

"Uh, uh, I just want to thank you for saving my life earlier." Karl said with a nervous tone.

Marina said nothing, and continued her walk.

"Don't take it personally, she's like that with everyone." Nadine said as she walked over to where Karl was.

-

It was lunchtime, and everyone was at the mess hall. Karl, Nadine, Wavy, Edy, and Homer were eating at the same table, having a conversation.

"So, um, what exactly happened while I was out?" Karl asked his fellow squad mates.

"When you passed out, Lt. Gunther and Isara offered to carry your unconscious body in their tank, make sure to thank them." Wavy explained.

Nadine continued, "And after that we were on our way back to Randgriz, but then we got separated from Welkin and Alicia for a while. It was a really stressful time. But luckily they were able to make it back to us in time to help us fight off some more imperials."

"And with my help, we were able to get through that battle unscathed!" boasted Edy.

"Oh you should've seen me out there! I believe I've gotten four, no, five imperials out there! Didn't I Homer?"

Homer smiled and said "Yes, Ms. Edy"

Karl noticed how vain Edy was, she obviously wasn't a bad person, but her ego was a little too bloated for her own good.

"Although, I probably would've done better if it weren't for that horrible Rosie!!" Edy scowled

Karl was curious, "Y-you don't like Rosie?" he asked.

"Of course I don't! She is my bitter rival! She acts like she's a better singer than me! But she is just jealous is all."

Karl was now quite interested. "I didn't know you sang, may I listen to you?" he asked.

Nadine quickly cut him off. "Um, maybe some other time."

"What? Do you have a problem with _my _singing?" Edy said, annoyed.

" It's not that! It's just uh, Karl needs his rest remember Karl? Fina said so herself!" Nadine quickly explained

"Uh, sure Nadine." Karl said slightly confused.

-

Karl was on his way back to his bed back at the medical area. Along the way, he wondered about the dream he had. Was it just a nightmare? Or was it a sign of things to come? He was hoping it was the former, because he would not live with seeing his lover die in front of him.

As he turned a corner, he accidentally bumped into someone, he dropped his glasses and fumbled around for them.

"I-I'm sorry! I- I didn't see you there!" Karl stammered.

As he placed his glasses back on, he suddenly found himself staring into two familiar, yet very beautiful, blue eyes…

**Well there, I've decided to have Edy in the story! I know how much a lot of you like her. (Even though I don't like her very much _) So anyway, once again, please leave any feedback on anything I need to improve on!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**:The Gallian Chateau

_October 1934 E.C._

_"Oh, no! Where is it?" Karl frantically asked himself._

_"Where is that tie?"_

_Karl was getting ready for his date with Lynn, and he couldn't find his tie. He searched all over his closet, but to no avail._

_"Gah, I was supposed to leave five minutes ago! I hope Lynn won't be to mad."_

_He had set up a date with Lynn at the Gallian Chateau. It was a fancy restaurant on the wealty side of Fouzen, but it was only allowed access to political types and military higher ups. However, he was able to get himself a way in._

_-_

_Earlier that week_

**_Karl was on his way home from work, he was just about to leave when suddenly, a man with blonde hair and a goatee stopped him._**

_"**Hey, I hear you got yourself a gal recently." he whispered.**_

**_Karl was rather confused. "H-how do you know?"_**

_"**Never mind that, you see that lady you have there has some fine taste, you know, being her old man used to be a rich man himself."**_

_"**S-she does?" Karl asked**_

**_The mysterious man then gave Karl a brochure, on it said Gallian Chateau._**

_"**If you want, I can give you access into this place." he said with a half smile.**_

**_Karl was surprised someone would just give him access into such a fancy place "R-really? T-thank…"_**

_"**With a price of cours**e" **the man interrupted**_

_"**P-price? What do you want?" Karl asked confused.**_

_"**Oh, nothing much, I recently noticed you got your pay from your boss."**_

**_Karl looked at the paycheck he was just given, it was his monthly paycheck needed to pay for food._**

_"**B-but, I need this too…"**_

_"**Look, do you want to impress your lady-friend or not?" the man interrupted again.**_

**_It was a tough decision, and Karl knew it, but he cared deeply for Lynn, and if this would make her happy, then it would be worth it._**

_"**Okay, here." Karl handed his paycheck to the man.**_

_"**Glad we can make this deal, I can also pay for everything else if you give me some of your savings too." he said with sly smile."**_

**_Karl let out a big sigh, "Okay, I'll have it for you later."_**

**-**

_Karl had to pay a heavy price, but it would be all worth it, if he could make Lynn happy. Finally, he found his tie hanging on the foot of his bed. He put it on along with a fancy vest he kept for such occasions. He headed outside and got into a car that he rented for the night._

_Karl drove up to Lynn's house and knocked on the door, slightly nervous, he made sure his tie was straightened while he waited. Finally, Lynn opened the door, Karl was dazzled by her beauty, she was wearing a blue dress that matched her eyes, along with her mother's necklace._

_"Oh, hi Karl! You look very nice." Lynn said with a friendly smile_

_"Oh, but your tie is undone, here let me tie it up for you."_

_Karl realized his tie was undone, he must've accidentally untied it while waiting for Lynn. He hoped he doesn't make another mistake like that tonight._

_"So, where are we going on our date?" Lynn asked _

_"I-It's a surprise." Karl replied._

_He walked her over to the car._

_"Huh, I didn't know you had a car." Lynn said, slightly intrigued._

_"Well, I'm only renting it for the night." Karl explained._

_-_

_As they drove, Lynn began to notice that they were entering the rich district, she was starting to be a little suspicious._

_"Um, Karl, you do know we're in the rich district right?" Lynn asked._

_"Yes, I know." Karl replied._

_Soon, they finally got to their destination, and Lynn was shocked._

_"The Gallian Chateau?!?" she exclaimed._

_"Karl! This is where the nation's richer people go to, how were you able to get reservations here?"_

_"Believe me it wasn't easy." Karl said with a nervous chuckle._

_As they walked towards the restaurant, Karl began to sweat, anything can go wrong at this point, he hoped that everything goes as planned. As they entered the building, they were greeted by a very regal atmosphere, there were candles on each of the table, water fountains in the lobby, and even a violinist was playing in the middle of the dining area. Both Karl and Lynn felt rather uncomfortable in this kind of place, being that they weren't born into this kind of lifestyle, but neither of said anything to offend the other._

_As they walked in, a man with a well groomed moustache came towards them._

_"I'm sorry, but I must ask you to leave, your kind isn't allowed here." he said in a very conceited voice. _

_"B-but, we have a reservation here." Karl tried to explain._

_"I find that hard to believe, now get out before I…."_

_Lynn finally decided to speak out, "Please, just check the reservations at least." _

_"Fine, what is your name?"_

_"My name is Karl Landzatt, I asked for a table at 9:00."_

_The man looked over the list, after a few seconds, he looked up with a raised eyebrow and said, _

_"I do not see your name on here, Mr. Landzatt."_

_Karl's eyes widened, "B-but, I paid to get in here!" Then Karl started to raise his voice. "I gave up my monthly check to even get close to this restaurant!"_

_Lynn quickly turned her eyes to Karl, after hearing that, she began to feel guilty._

_"Do not raise your voice at me you peasant! Be gone!"_

_As Karl tried to figure things out, he saw the man he gave his money to, he was wearing a fancy suit and tie. _

_Karl ran over to him and said "H-hey, hey! You there! You were the one I gave my money to remember?"_

_The man knew who was talking to him, he remembered him from the ironworks, he paid him to get him a reservation to get into the Chateau. _

_With a grin on his face, he said, "Whatever could you be talking about? I never seen you before in my life."_

_Karl was confused at first, but then realized what was going on, he was conned out of his money. He then slowly walked out of the restaurant, feeling ashamed of himself._

_Lynn quickly followed Karl outside, she needed to know what was going on._

_"Karl, what was going on? You said something about having to give up your paycheck to even get in here? Please tell me the truth Karl."_

_Karl felt like he humiliated Lynn, he felt like he had no right to speak to her, but he decided to come clean, _

_"I was told by that guy in there he would pay for everything if I gave him my paycheck I got from the ironworks, I even gave up some of my savings, but I guess I got conned. I'm sorry Lynn for ruining your evening."_

_Lynn was surprised Karl went to those lengths just to give her a nice evening, she felt incredibly guilty for it._

_"Karl…" she said._

_"You didn't have to go to such lengths to impress me. I would have had a great evening even if all we did was sat on a hilltop, looking at the stars."_

_Karl then felt Lynn's arms around him, he suddenly felt better, knowing that she didn't hate him._

_"S-so, um, is that what you want to do next time?" Karl asked._

_Lynn smiled, "It's a date!"_

_The next thing Lynn did surprised Karl, she planted and locked her lips with his. It was his first real kiss, he felt like all of his problems just melted away, he no longer cared for losing his money or whether he disappointed Lynn or not, all he cared about was what was happening right here, right now._

**Sorry if this chapter wasn't as good as some of my other ones, my mind seems to be set on what's going to happen in the main story, I recently thought up so many new ideas for it. XD Well, anyway thanks for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:** Reunion

Karl was on his way back to his bed in the medical area. Along the way, he wondered about the dream he had. Was it just a nightmare? Or was it a sign of things to come? He was hoping it was the former, because he would not live with seeing his lover die in front of him.

As he turned a corner, he accidentally bumped into someone, he dropped his glasses and fumbled around for them.

"I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't see you there!" Karl stammered.

As he placed his glasses back on, he suddenly found himself staring into two familiar, yet very beautiful blue eyes.

"L-Lynn??" Karl stuttered.

"Huh? Who's Lynn?" asked the person he was staring at.

Karl adjusted his glasses and found it wasn't Lynn, but in fact Ms. Ellet, GBS reporter and keeper of the Writing on the Wall. She had blue eyes, blonde hair, and wore a green hat. She was currently staying in Squad 7's quarters to do a documentary on their efforts in the war.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else." Karl said with a depressed tone.

"Hey! Cheer up! I'm sure you'll eventually find this person you're looking for!" Ms Ellet said in a cheery voice. "In fact, I was just about to do an interview with each and every member of Squad 7! And you'll be the first!"

"Interview??" Karl asked.

He had never had an interview before, and was nervous.

"Okay! First question!" Ellet began

"What do you think of life here in the militia?"

Karl took some time to answer this, and finally, he said

"W-well, things started off kind of rough here in the militia, almost everyone isolated me being that I was a "darcsen lover".

"Well, are you?" Ellet asked

Karl blushed at the question. "Well, um, strictly speaking, I, uh…

"Never mind, next question! What inspired you to join the militia?"

"Well, that would be because of my fiancé, Lynn, she and I got separated from Fouzen, and I hope to find her."

Ellet cocked her head in amazement. "Oh! Your engaged! What's the future Mrs. Karl Landzatt like?"

Karl smiled at the question, he never had trouble when the subject was on Lynn.

"Well, she is the most beautiful thing in the world, she…"

Before Karl could say anymore, he suddenly noticed someone walking down a hallway from across the room, she had dark blue hair, and had a piece in her hair. Karl eyes suddenly widened, could it be Lynn?

He quickly ran and left Ms. Ellet alone.

"Hey! The interview wasn't done!" Ellet called out.

Karl ran as fast as he could hoping that his eyes didn't deceive him this time. He saw a corner and sharply turned it, and there she was, the love of his life was standing there, at the sight of him, her eyes widened.

"Karl…" Lynn whispered.

"Lynn…" Karl whispered back.

Immediately, they found each other in the other's embrace, tears were running down Lynn's face

"Karl, I'm so glad to know you're safe, I thought I had lost you!" Lynn said

"Me too Lynn." Karl replied.

He then suddenly noticed what Lynn was wearing, she was in militia garb. He stepped back in shock, and said.

"Lynn! Y-you joined the militia?!?" Karl yelled.

"Yes, Karl, I had heard that you joined the militia, so, in hopes of finding you, I joined as a shocktrooper. And here we are now!" Lynn smiled.

Karl was suddenly filled with dread, Lynn was now literally in the front lines where she could be killed at anytime.

Lynn saw the look on Karl's face, "Karl? Is something wrong?"

"Oh! Nothing is wrong! I'm glad you're here! That's all!" Karl said, he didn't want to worry Lynn.

Meanwhile, from behind, Ms. Ellet was eyeing the couple from behind.

She was in disbelief, "No way! He's engaged to a darcsen??"

A smile spread across her face, "Wow! What a scoop!"

She jot down what she had learned in her scrapbook and slinked away.

-

As Karl and Lynn walked across the hallway, Karl asked,

"So, how did you find me Lynn? I joined the militia to find you."

Lynn then explained, "Well, during the raid on Fouzen, a group of darcsens and I fled from the city. We were hiding out in different towns around the northern area, constantly running from the darcsen hunters. It was a horrifying time. Then, I heard from the underground that you joined the militia, so I decided to head to Randgriz to hopefully find you there."

Lynn finished, "I'm glad to see you're still alive Karl, I don't know what I'd do without you."

She leaned her head on Karl's shoulder, Karl smiled at her, yet deep down, he was worried about her safety even more than before, he then decided not to think about it.

"Hey Lynn, I made some new friends here in the militia, you want to meet them?" Karl asked.

"Sure, I'd love too." Lynn replied

-

Karl and Lynn entered the mess hall, and headed back to the table where Nadine, Wavy, Edy, and Homer were sitting.

Nadine turned and looked at Karl, she then said, "Karl, what are you doing? You're supposed to be back in bed!"

Lynn turned to look at Karl with a raised eyebrow.

Karl then explained, "S-sorry Nadine, I just wanted to introduce someone to you."

The table noticed that the newcomer was darcsen, Nadine and Wavy particularly were intrigued, as there weren't many darcsens in the squad.

"My name is Lynn, I'm Karl's fiancé." Lynn said with a warm smile.

A look of surprise replaced most of everyone's faces on the table, except for Homer, he was off in his own little world.

"Wow Karl! I didn't know your fiancé was darcsen Karl!" Nadine exclaimed.

"Nadine keep your voice down!" Wavy said.

The table that consisted of Cezary and the other darcsen haters turned towards the darcsen table.

"Oops, sorry about that." Nadine apologized.

"Why, what's wrong?" Lynn asked.

Wavy explained, "Well, Karl doesn't exactly have the best reputation here, considering he once said he liked darcsens"

Nadine finished, "Ever since then, he was ostracized from most of the squad."

"Well that's not fair! Just because one has a darcsen for a friend they are considered lower than others?" Lynn exclaimed.

She then turned to Karl, "Karl! Show them you aren't like that! Show them you are equal to them!"

Karl was confused, "Wait, what?"

Lynn pushed Karl towards Cezary's table, "Go over to them and get the respect you deserve!"

Karl was shocked at what Lynn was telling him to do, he was scared to even walk near the darcsen hater table, considering what had happened last time.

As he walked towards them, Cezary noticed him walk towards him.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be here darcsen lover, get lost!" growled Cezary.

Karl wanted to do just that, but he knew Lynn was watching him, so he continued walking forward.

He went up to Cezary and stuttered, Cezary, "I-I g-got something to t-tell you."

"Fine, what is it?" Cezary said impatiently.

"Y-you can't j-judge me just b-because I-I am a "darcsen lover"

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?"

Cezary stood up and stared down at Karl, daring him to even try to take a step towards him.

Karl suddenly felt all his courage disappear, he noticed Cezary's eyes staring down at him. He looked down at the ground as a sign of submitting.

"Pfft, I knew it, you have nothing." Cezary mocked.

"You are nothing but a weakling, which would explain why you're engaged to that oily haired bitch over there."

Karl felt a sense of anger when he heard that, but he still did nothing.

Suddenly, he saw Lynn in front of him.

"Take back what you said to him! Right now!" Lynn demanded.

Cezary glared at Lynn, he then slowly pulled out a knife.

"I _advise_ you know your place dark hair." Cezary sneered.

Lynn immediately noticed the knife in his hand, she grabbed and twisted his arm, forcing him to drop the knife, she then turned him around and grabbed him in a head-lock, and swept her leg to force Cezary down on one knee.

"I advise_ you_ not to try that on me again." Lynn growled.

She then released Cezary, he coughed and gasped for air and retreated to his table.

Lynn then turned towards Karl with a look of anger on her face.

"Honestly Karl! Can't you for once, stand up for yourself?"

She then turned and left the mess hall, everyone stared at the scene of the commotion. Karl looked down in shame.

Karl then thought, "Dammit, why do I have to be so weak?"

**I got you there at the beginning didn't I? XD Well anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, cause I sure as hell enjoyed writing it! See you next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I apologize, but I don't really have ANY real good ideas for the flashback sequences for the story except for one. So I decided to stray away from that path and actually focus on the main story for now. Anyway, here is my latest chapter.**

**Chapter 11: **Hard Worker

It was late in the afternoon at Fort Amatriain, the time where the militia usually cooled down after a long day of drills, work around the base, and training. While most of the soldiers took these opportunities to relax and socialize with the friends they had made there, others continued their duties at the base. Karl's duties were to help Isara provide maintenance to the Edelweiss. Each engineer on the squad was given different days to perform this duty, and it was Karl's day to perform it. Normally, Karl would be enthusiastic about doing what he is best at, but, he wished he were with Lynn, who he had finally reunited with. Unfortunately, after what happened at the mess hall during lunch, he felt like he didn't deserve to talk with her.

As Karl was working on the Edelweiss's treads, he kept thinking about the incident that happened earlier that day, he wished he went back in time and convinced himself to stand up against Cezary, showing Lynn how much he had improved himself since they were separated, and yet he failed to show it. It was then he noticed Isara looking down at him.

"Karl? What's wrong?" She asked. "You aren't as productive as you are normally."

"Sorry Isara, I-I just have a lot of thing on my mind lately." Karl said in a monotone voice.

Usually, during maintenance, Isara had conversations with her fellow engineers, they would tell her about how their lives were before the war started, they would tell her about their problems, and tell them about their goals. She was well aware of Karl's problems and the challenges he faced.

"Is it about Lynn? I heard about what happened at the mess hall today."

"Wait, you met her already?" Karl said with a look of surprise on his face.

"Yes, I'm usually the first besides Welkin to know if a darcsen joined our team." Isara then smiled. "She is a very beautiful women, and you are very lucky to have her."

"Heh heh, thanks." Karl said with a nervous chuckle.

"So.." Isara hesitated to ask, "What exactly happened today with her?"

Karl looked down with a sense of shame.

"Well, after she heard about how I'm viewed and treated in the militia, she forced me to go over to Cezary and stand up for myself."

Isara nodded to confirm she understooed.

"As I tried to stand up for myself, Cezary loomed over me, I lost all self confidence and looked down on the ground, showing him that I submitted, he then called me weak and insulted Lynn."

Karl's fists then clenched.

"He called her an oily haired bitch, I wanted to break his neck for saying stuff about my girl, but I didn't do anything, I just stood there. And then it happened."

"What happened?" asked Isara

Karl continued, "Lynn went over and demanded he took back what he said to me, Cezary then pulled out a knife as a way of threatening her, I was scared for her safety, I wanted to do something. Next thing I knew however, she had him pinned on the ground. And then after she was finished, she went over to me and asked why I couldn't stand up for myself."

Karl then looked down again with a sad look on his face.

"I don't deserve her, she's just so brave, strong, and confident, while I'm just a coward, who can't even stand up for himself."

There was a long silence between the two, it was almost eerie how quiet it was. Until finally, Isara spoke out,

"While it's true you're not the bravest person in the world Karl," Isara began

Karl winced at the words, knowing they were true.

"That isn't always a bad thing."

Karl looked up at Isara, confused about what she meant.

"I'm sure Lynn doesn't hate you for your faults, she was only trying to help you improve yourself, because she cares about you, because you care about her."

"You dream of becoming a man to protect her right?" Isara asked

"Y-yes, I do!" Karl said as he clenched his fists.

"Well don't give up on that dream, you will face many obstacles, but you just have to overcome them."

Isara then looked up as if she was staring into the sky,

"I dream of one day, darcsens will live side by side with others as equals, and I hope to help make it a reality."

Isara then looked at Karl with a look of determination,

"Let's both fulfill our dreams Karl!"

"Yeah!" Karl exclaimed.

"Now, why don't you go and see Lynn?" Isara asked

"B-but, what about the Edelweiss?" Karl asked

"Don't worry, I'll do the rest by myself." Isara said with a smile.

Karl then got up and was about to leave, but then he stopped, he looked back at Isara.

"Isara," he said, "Thanks"

Isara nodded and continued the maintenance.

-

Karl looked all over the base for Lynn, he checked the mess hall, he checked the hallways, he even checked the girl's quarters, much to the girls' displeasure, as Karl soon found out through a slap in the face. Finally, he checked the shooting range, there he found Lynn firing at the targets with her machine gun. She was a terrible shot, as she could not hit any of the targets.

"Damn it. Come on!" Lynn said under her breath as she reloaded her rifle.

Karl nervously walked over to her, he then finally spoke out.

"Um, hi Lynn…"

Lynn turned and saw Karl.

"Oh Karl!" Lynn exclaimed. "I…"

There was a long pause, until finally, Karl spoke,

"I-If you want I can help you get better with firing, if you want."

Lynn smiled and said,

"I'd like that, after all, you've been in the militia longer then I have."

Karl bent down next to Lynn, he remembered the training he learned from a sniper women who was a veteran from the first war on how to handle a gun. She was always out helping new recruits who had trouble with their aim, so he took what he learned from her and turned it into an example for Lynn.

"Okay," Karl began, "The first thing you need to do is to put the butt of the gun to your chest."

He grabbed the gun and helped Lynn hold it in the specified position.

"Then, you aim carefully, but take your time, rushing will only lead to missing your target. Which is a bad thing out in the field."

Lynn nodded.

"When you're ready, take a deep breath and fire."

Lynn did all the things in order, next thing she knew, the bulls-eye of the target was filled with holes.

"I-I did it! Thank you Karl!" Lynn said with a warm smile.

They continued practicing for a few minutes, eventually, they took a break and had a conversation.

"Listen Karl," Lynn said with a sense of guilt. "I'm sorry for forcing you to do something you clearly couldn't do. I guess I was being selfish is all. Can you forgive me?"

Karl shook his head and said.

"You're not the one who needs to apologize Lynn, I do. I failed to become the man I wanted to be for you."

"No Karl, you didn't…"

"But I'll keep trying, that way, you don't have to protect me, and I can protect you if you are ever in trouble."

"Karl…" Lynn whispered.

"I don't protect you because I have to, I do it because I want to."

"You mean everything to me Karl, and I want to make sure you're alive so we can have that big wedding you promised me."

Karl blushed at the statement.

"So, can we continue practicing? I want to work as hard as I can at being a shock trooper so we can both survive."

"Yes Lynn, lets." Karl answered.

As they continued practicing on Lynn's performance with a machine gun, Karl thought about the conversation they had. As long as they were looking out for one another, neither of them will lose the other. And Karl was happy about that fact.

**Another chapter is finished. I hope you enjoyed it! Once again, I apologize for not making a flashback chapter this time. I really have no ideas for it at the moment. But I will guarantee you, there will be one at an opportune moment in this story. Anyway, please leave feedback on anything I need to improve on.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**:Home

It was a sunny summer day at Fort Amatriain, Karl, along with the other engineers, were going through some rigorous exercises made by the Drill Instructor.

"Come on now! Keep running!" yelled the Drill Instructor. "Honestly, you engineers have the easiest form of exercise compared to the other classes, yet you act like you're going through Shock trooper training!

It was true, compared to how the other soldiers had it, they had it pretty easy. But that still didn't stop Karl from making him feel queasy from the constant running and heat he had to endure. He then suddenly tripped over something. When he turned around and saw what it was, he was surprised. It was Herbert Nielsen, the laziest and most unmotivated of the engineers, sleeping in the middle of the running track.

The Drill Instructor walked over to Herbert and kicked at his body.

"Wake up Private Nielsen! You lazy slob!" he yelled.

Herbert slowly raised his head and pushed his long blond hair out of his face. He looked up with his droopy eyes and saw his superior's face turning red from frustration.

"Nah, I didn't get any sleep last night. I need to catch up."

He then slumped back down on to the ground. The Drill Instructor's face became redder than a tomato.

He then turned to at Karl and yelled, "What the hell are you staring at?!? Keep moving Private Landzatt!"

Karl flinched and saluted.

"Y-yes sir!" Karl said as he quickly got back to running.

As Karl was running, he could hear the Drill Instructor yelling from across the track as if someone was talking to him face to face. Poor Herbert he thought, he was going to get the workout of his life.

-

Later that day, Welkin Gunther organized everyone into the tank garage to give them their latest mission. As he walked in, Karl noticed Lynn standing at attention along with the other soldiers. He walked over to stand next to her. Lynn looked from the corner of her eye and smiled when she saw her fiancé next to her. Karl noticed her smile and did the same. This was going to be their first mission together, and it seemed a lot less scary knowing that they got each other's back. Welkin Gunther walked in, preparing to give the squad his latest orders.

"Sevens, our next mission is going to be big. We the militia are going to reclaim the industrial city of Fouzen."

Karl and Lynn's eyes widened when they heard this, they were going to get the chance to reclaim their home.

"If we can do this, it will be a shot in the arm to Gallia's productivity. Giving us an advantage over the Empire. Unfortunately, there is a small problem."

The squad became dismayed, usually with them, a "small problem" is a big problem.

"We have heard reports that there is an armored train armed to the teeth, and has an almost complete view of Fouzen. Somehow, we have to find a way to get rid of it to secure our victory in Fouzen."

Karl, who had become quite nervous, blurted out,

"But how are we going to do it?"

Karl realized he was out of line,

"Um, sorry."

Welkin reassured him,

"No, don't worry, we have been told there was a militia sympathizer in the darcsencamps that can give us information on how to destroy it. Squad 7 will infiltrate Fouzen to rendezvous with him while the rest of the militia forms a perimeter around the city."

"How do we know this dark hair isn't just going to screw us over?" Cezary remarked.

Welkin, although rather annoyed with Cezary, answered his question.

"It's true, we're not sure if he does have the key information we need, but the mission hinges on him."

Welkin than finished his speech.

"We begin the march on Fouzen at first light, the attack begins at sundown."

-

As soon as Squad 7 made it to Fouzen, it was almost pitch black. They had made it behind schedule. Luckily though, this gave them the element of surprise, as the enemy didn't know they had breached the city. They also had the fortune of having two scouts who are adept in seeing in the dark, Ted Ustinov, and Ramona Linton. They were sent on the rail cars to take out unsuspecting snipers and get a better view of the area ahead.

As soon as the two scouts gave a report of what exactly the rest of the team will be facing, the attack squad moved forward, consisting of Welkin in his Edelweiss, with Karl, Lynn, Nadine staying behind it. Normally, Karl expected to see Kevin with him like he did back in Barious, but he was transferred to another squad. Instead he had Lynn covering his back. They faced tanks, and small concentrations of soldiers, who barely put up a fight because they were caught by surprised. The rest of the squad, with Alicia, Rosie, and Largo leading the charge, followed the leading team and cleaned up anything that was left behind.

Eventually though, they were stopped by a tank and a group of lancers. Normally, the infantry would take out the lancers no problem, but there were also snipers on a ledge behind them. If they just ran towards them they were done for.

"What are we going to do?" Nadine asked. "We can't just go charging in!"

Lynn then noticed a rail car, she took a good look and noticed it led straight to where the snipers were.

"I've got it!" Lynn said.

She ran towards the rail car. Karl, not realizing what she's up too, cried out,

"Lynn! What are you doing?"

A few seconds later he heard screams coming from where the snipers were, Lynn had quickly shot them all down. She gave a thumbs up to signify that the potential threat to the infantry was gone.

Soon, the lancers were killed, and the Edelweiss finished off the tank. Karl was amazed at how quickly Lynn found a solution to their predicament. The training they had paid off.

-

Squad 7 made it to the rendezvous point. Karl realized the place they needed to be was in his home district, they walked by his house, which was nothing but a pile of rubble thanks to the invasion. Suddenly, Karl noticed something he never saw in his district, a camp, but not just any camp, a darcsen camp.

As they walked in, the squad was split into small groups to investigate the buildings, Karl and Lynn walked into one together. Inside, they found darcsens sleeping in small cramped bunks. They were malnourished, pale, and sick.

"Oh my god…" Karl said. "Why would they do this?"

He then looked at Lynn and saw a look of terror in her eyes. She could've ended up like them had she not escape. They held each other's hands, thankful that she didn't.

-

Eventually, the squad rounded up to where Welkin and Squad 7's other leaders were at, they had met their informant, a darcsen named Zaka, he wore a sash that had the same markings as Isara's shawl. He also, normally had his right eye closed for most of the time. Karl stared wondering it was like that, as it opened occasionally while he talked. He had gone over his plan with Welkin and the others, but was going to go over it again with the rest of the team who just walked in.

"Ok, here's the plan." Zaka said to the squad members., "I going to plant this bomb onto one of the support pillars for the railroad, then I want you to get to a good vantage point to where you can see the bomb, and then fire at it when the armored train is in position. Ya got that?"

The rest of the squad confirmed about the plan.

"Ok, the attack begins at dawn, I want all of you rested before then." Welkin said.

-

As Karl was preparing to go to sleep, he noticed Lynn conversing with Zaka. Curious, he walked over to see what they were talking about.

"Oh, Karl," Lynn said, "I'd like you to introduce you to Zaka, he was one of my friends back before the place got invaded."

"N-nice to meet you." Karl said as he and Zaka shook hands.

"So, this is the guy you're marrying? He's not as tough looking as I imagined him to be."

Karl was set back at the statement, he felt a bit discouraged.

"But, looks aren't everything," Zaka added. "So long as you're capable in battle, you should do just fine.

"T-thank you. I wish you the best of luck tomorrow." Karl said, reassured by Zaka.

"Heh, no problem. Now why don't you two get some rest, you're gonna need it for tomorrow."

Karl and Lynn did just that. They found a corner in which they could lean on and eventually doze off. As they fell asleep, Karl became anxious. Tomorrow, his actions will decide the fate of their home. Would the dream he had come true? Would he lose Lynn and the rest of the squad to the empire? He then stared at Lynn's unconscious form, she looked beutiful while she was sleeping. He wished he could stare at her forever...

**Sorry, this took longer than usual, I just got back from vacation, and I'm currently preparing for school. So, I may not update as much. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: **The Recapture of Fouzen

_Karl was standing in a field of grass somewhere out in the country side. He didn't know how he got here nor when, but he didn't care, It was quiet, calm, and peaceful. As he walked, he felt the crunching of the grass underneath his feet, it felt strange compared to how the rock and gravel felt back at home._

_As he walked, he noticed something far off in the distance, it was pure white and was heading towards him. As it got closer, he recognized what it was, it was Lynn. In a beautiful white dress, her blue eyes shone as bright as the sun, and her dark blue hair was let down, allowing the wind to blow. Karl was amazed by her beauty, it was like a dream come true, just them, alone, in this large grassy field away from civilization._

_Lynn then walked toward Karl, until her lips were just mere centimeters from Karl's._

_She whispered, "Karl…"_

_She continued whispering, "Karl… Karl… Karl!"_

-

"Karl! Wake up! It's time to get ready!"

Karl's eyes quickly opened up, he took a look around and saw that what had happened a few moments ago was indeed all a dream.

"What? W-what are you talking about? Ready for what?" Karl asked, still trying to figure out what's going on.

"The battle! Lt. Gunther has ordered us into position!" C'mon!" Lynn said, slightly annoyed.

Karl then remembered what was going to happen, the battle to determine the fate of Fouzen, his home is about to begin. He became frightened at the thought. Despite that, Lynn's beckoning forced his legs to move him forward.

-

The squad was set into position, everyone was standing at attention as Welkin from the port hole of his Edelweiss discusses the battle plan.

"According to our scouts," Welkin began. "this elevator right next to us acts as a shortcut to where the bomb is set. Unfortunately, the enemy has predicted that we would use this elevator and turned it off. The switch to it is on the other end but is heavily guarded. If we can get to the switch we can bring out an assault team to blaze our way towards the detonation site."

Welkin then continued, "Also, we have received word from Zaka that the northwest bridge will need to be taken out to slow the rate of reinforcements, that way he can set the bomb up. I'll need a group of scouts to handle all these tasks is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" Said the scouts of the squad including Alicia.

"Meanwhile, the rest of the squad prepare to attack once the elevator is activated."

Welkin then turn towards the battlefield, he shouted,

"Squad 7, move out!"

-

Karl watched from binoculars as Wavy was sneaking his way towards the northwestern bridge. He also saw the Edelweiss, Alicia and the other scouts providing a distraction for the enemy so he can get to it with little resistance. Wavy, aimed his rifle straight up into the air.

"What's he doing?" Karl wondered.

A blue flash came out of the rifle, and a few seconds later, the bridge was destroyed.

"W-what just happened?"

"Those are the new grenade attachments to the rifles." Nadine, who was watching the action with him answered.

"They are designed to fire grenades over a large arc, very useful when trying to break up enemy formations."

"And apparently destroying bridges." said a dark sounding voice.

Karl jumped and turned towards the origin of the voice. It was Marina, she was providing sniper support for the Edelweiss and scout groups.

"O-oh, it's just you Marina!" said Karl with a nervous smile.

"Sorry it's just that you never talk much and I forgot you were here."

Marina didn't reply to the comment and continued with her duty.

-

Finally, the group had broken through the enemies' defenses and activated the elevator. The assault team was preparing to attack as they rode the elevator down. The attack group consisted of Karl, Lynn, Rosie, and Largo . The rest of the squad was left to defend the base from incoming waves of enemies.

Karl's legs were shaking involuntarily, the pressure was slowly taking it's toll, but then he felt Lynn's hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Karl." Lynn said with a reassuring smile.

"We'll get through this, and save our home."

"Just don't mess up dark-hair, I don't feel like dying today." Rosie remarked.

"Rosie quit it. We're all in this together." Largo scolded.

"Hmph."

As soon as the elevator door opened, the shock troopers opened fire, taking out unsuspecting imperials occupied by the Edelweiss/scout team.

After the skirmish, the radio came on and a panicked voice came out,

"Sir! We're taking heavy fire at the main base! We could use your help!"

"Alright, Welkin replied, sit tight I'll be there soon."

He turned to his attack squad and said.

"Sorry guys, you'll have to do the rest of this on your own."

"Don't worry boss, I'll make sure we'll get through." Largo said.

"That's the spirit Largo!"

"The scouts and I will hold here and hold the reinforcements off!" Alicia said.

"Ok, be careful, all of you."

As the Edelweiss drove back to base, the assault team got into a second elevator that will lead to their destination. As soon as they got out however, they found that between them and the rails was a heavily guarded camp. It included plenty of soldiers and a tank.

"Karl, I need you to keep my lance full while I keep that tank at bay, got it?"

Karl, who was still a little shaken from their last fight, reluctantly said,

"Y-yes sir!"

"Meanwhile, Rosie and I will try to distract those soldier while you do so." Lynn said.

Karl with a worried face, turned to Lynn.

"Lynn, be careful." he said

Lynn smiled, "Don't worry my love, I'll be fine. I have Rosie here just in case anything happens. Right Rosie?"

Rosie was annoyed at the fact that she had to take care for a darcsen, but she reluctantly agreed.

"Fine, just don't get in my way."

Rosie and Lynn than ran to the buildings for cover, while Largo started to head towards the tank. Karl, not realizing at first that Largo already started, immediately ran after him and shouted.

"H-hey! Wait up!"

Largo and Karl got behind a large rock for cover. Karl placed fresh payload inside Largo's lance. Then Largo turned at the rock's corner and fired at the tank. It made a direct hit and left a large dent.

"Yeah! Keep em' coming Karl! Largo shouted.

As soon as Karl refilled Largo's lance again, they suddenly were knocked down by a large explosion. They soon found that the rock they were hiding behind was destroyed. The tank had it's sights set on them.

"Damn! Get down!" Largo shouted.

He grabbed Karl and they laid down on the ground to dodge the tank's payload. The dust from the explosion got on Karl's glasses.

"Quickly! Let's go!" Largo commanded.

Karl and Largo ran as fast as they could towards some sand bags. As soon as they reached them, the tank fired again, luckily the round just barely missed them, and flew right past them. As soon, as they took cover, Largo fired off his lance again, this time aiming at the tanks' treads. He got them, and the tank began to slow to a crawl.

"That should give us some breathing room." Largo said, almost exhausted from the stress.

Karl quickly pulled out another round for Largo to use, but then he dropped it. With the dirt all over Karl's glasses, he could not see where it was.

"No! Where is it?!?" Karl panicked.

The tank moved closer and closer, aiming it's cannon to deliver it's next round of payload.

Karl finally grabbed hold of the ammo and loaded it into Largo's lance. Largo aimed and fired, the round caused the tank to explode. Largo and Karl both let out a sigh of relief.

"Heh heh, that was a close one." Largo replied.

Karl, who was shaking like crazy, quickly nodded.

-

As Lynn watched Karl run towards the tank with Largo, she started to wonder if she should have gone with him. She then began to fear for his safety.

"Hey! Come on!" Rosie called out.

Lynn quickly realized what she was supposed to be doing and ran after Rosie. They ran towards the imperials and started to fire. The imperials, surprised by the attack from the side, focused their fire on the two shock troopers. Rosie and Lynn took cover behind sandbags and waited for them to begin to reload. As soon as they did, they popped out and fired back.

Lynn remembered her training with Karl, took her time aiming for a target. Once she knew that she had a good shot, she held down the trigger, next thing she knew, a soldier fell down dead from her burst. She repeated the process and got four soldiers before being forced to take cover.

Rosie, who only got two soldiers, was surprised at Lynn.

"Hey, you're not to bad with a gun for a dark hair." she commented.

Lynn smiled and said, "Thanks, I've been training with my fiancé."

They then heard a loud explosion, Lynn turned towards the origin of the blast and found Karl and Largo exposed.

"No… Karl!" Lynn shouted.

She watched in horror as Karl and Largo struggled to get away from the tank. She winced every time the tank fired at them.

"Hey! Don't worry about them! Focus on these guys!" Rosie shouted as she was firing at their opponents.

"But, Karl, he…" Lynn said

"Hey! Do you think he would be happy if you died because of him?"

Lynn let Rosie's words sink in. She was right, so she continued firing at the imperials. Suddenly, another loud explosion was heard. This time it was the tank, Largo and Karl had succeeded in what they were supposed to do. The imperials morale plummeted and they retreated. Lynn took a look and found Karl was okay. She let out a huge sigh of relief.

-

The assault team reached the bomb, which was placed on one of the support columns for the train, and detonated it. Next thing they knew, the railroad collapsed and the train plummeted into the water.

"Operation complete! The armored train has been dropped!" Welkin said over the radio chatter.

As soon, as he heard Welkin, Karl felt an immense feeling of joy. Fouzen, his home, was saved. He then felt Lynn's arms around him.

"We did it Karl!" Lynn happily shouted. Karl noticed tears were streaming down her face. She was overjoyed that they were able to reclaim their home. He then suddenly found himself being kissed right on the lips by Lynn. Karl, who was used to this by now, felt at complete ease.

Unfortunately their happiness was short lived, the radio activated, it was Welkin again.

"Emergency! The darcsen concentration camps are in flames! Everyone, quickly get over there!

-

The darcsen concentration camps were left nothing but a pile of ash. Karl and Lynn looked on in horror at the destruction. Very few of the detainees were able to escape the fire, but many others weren't so lucky.

"Why…, said Alicia. Why murder everyone? They forced everyone into this building, then set it on fire… for what?"

Rosie then walked towards the wreckage, she kneeled down and found a burnt darcsen doll. Karl noticed her tighten her grip on the doll.

"She was just a kid…" Rosie whispered.

"Somebody tell me who did this! I'll tear their stinking heads off!!'

Karl was surprised, Rosie, who hated darcsens with a passion, was mourning a darcsen child.

"And what would that accomplish?" Zaka asked.

"Revenge! That's what!" Rosie remarked.

Zaka walked towards the wreckage and said,

"Fight fire with fire, and eye for an eye… Didn't enough people die today? Even if our traditions lead us to death at the hands of others, we don't respond with violence. When we die, we die for peace, that is how the darcsen live their lives."

Lynn nodded in approval.

"And now those lives are gone, forever." Rosie said sadly.

Karl noticed Lynn looking down on the ground mournfully, he placed his arm over her in an attempt to comfort her.

"What, why…" Largo said.

Zaka lifted up a large piece of burnt lumber, "I could hate them, maybe even kill them. But that wouldn't bring these people back. All I can do, is try to survive, and help the ones who are still here."

Isara then walked over and helped Zaka carry the lumber. A few seconds later, Rosie came in and helped out as well. The squad stared in disbelief at Rosie, she was going to help darcsens out.

"Rosie.." Isara whispered.

"Rosie… thank you." Zaka said.

"Sure.." Rosie replied.

Welkin then turned to the rest of the squad,

"There could be other survivors, everybody, help us look!"

Almost immediately, the entire squad had spread out across the camp, digging through the wreckage in hopes of anyone who was still alive. As Karl was helping Lynn, he looked back at Rosie and smiled. He was glad someone like her could have a change of heart. Which meant that he too, had a chance at changing himself…


	14. Chapter 14

**I am so sorry this took so long. My computer got infected by a virus and had to be sent in for repairs, I also had a case of writer's block for what to do for this chapter. After some thought, I was able to think of something. Hope you like it, and once again, I apologize for the long wait.**

**Chapter 14: **The Feast of all Spirits

It was a few weeks after the recapture of Fouzen, Karl's hometown, and Karl felt absolutely great. All he had to do was make sure he and Lynn survive to the end of the war, and they could get back to their nice peaceful lives. He never felt more confident.

That is, until he got the latest mission briefing from Welkin and the other leaders of Squad 7. The squad was to capture a imperial camp at Marberry Shore, which according to Intel, had a beach head that had absolutely no cover from enemy fire, meaning they could easily get cut down by turrets. At the mess hall, Karl ate with Lynn, Nadine and Wavy. Karl stirred his soup with his spoon, depressed about the battle ahead.

"What's wrong Karl?" Nadine asked when she got a good look at Karl.

Karl realized his friends were all looking at him, he didn't want them to worry about him, so he regains his composure.

"Oh, n-nothing Nadine!" he replied

Wavy adjusted his glasses, than said,

"Is it about the mission we have to do?"

Karl, knowing he was right, lowered his head and nodded.

"Don't worry Karl," Lynn said reassuringly.

"I'm sure our commander will figure something out."

It was true, even in the most grim situations, Welkin was able to pull though and lead the squad to victory in every battle they have been thus far, there couldn't possibly be any chance he could fail them at this point.

"And besides, we got the Feast of all Spirits to look forward too!" Lynn said with enthusiasm.

Karl suddenly froze, he thought,

"Oh, no! The Feast of all Spirits! I completely forgot!"

The Feast of all Spirits was a time where all of Gallia celebrated everything they had, friends, families, and lovers. It was common tradition to make a present for the person you care most about, and Karl knew this, unfortunately, he has yet to even begin making a present for Lynn. He had to think of something quick.

"And I made you a present too! Wait until you see it tomorrow!" Lynn said

Even worse, Lynn has already made a present_, **and**_ the feast was tomorrow!

Karl got up from the table and started to leave.

"Where are you going Karl?" Lynn asked "You haven't finished your meal yet."

"Err, sorry L-Lynn," Karl replied, "I, uh, just realized that it's my turn to help Isara with the Edelweiss today! See ya later!"

After he left, Nadine said, "I thought it was my turn today…"

Wavy placed his hand over his face, he knew what was happening, and was hoping for the best for Karl, but at the same time, he knew something could go wrong.

-

Karl went inside the tank hanger, he let out a sigh of relief, Lynn didn't expect a thing. But he wasn't out of the woods yet, he still needs to make a present for her by tomorrow. As he walked around the hangar, thinking about what he could do, he noticed Isara at a table tinkering with something. Normally, Karl didn't snoop in people's business, but he was curious as to what she was doing, he slowly walked over and was about to look over her shoulder, but then Isara turned around and accidentally hit him in the head with a wrench.

KLANG

Karl fell down of the floor, his forehead throbbing.

"I'm so sorry Karl! Are you okay?!?" Isara frantically asked.

Karl slowly got up and muttered, "I-I'm fine."

Karl looked over Isara and saw some peculiar looking items on the table behind her.

"Um, Isara, what are those?" he asked

Isara quickly got back and tried to shield them from his eyes.

"Please don't tell anyone Karl, I'm trying to make something I want to show to Welks. It could help us with the mission tomorrow!" Isara begged.

Now Karl was really curious, he wondered what could she possibly be making to help them with the mission tomorrow.

He had to ask, "W-what are they? I promise not to tell anyone!"

Isara, reluctantly decided to show him, they looked like tank rounds, but slightly smaller.

"These are smoke grenades, they can shield us from those turrets on the beachhead so we can sneak past them."

Karl was amazed, he couldn't have thought of anything like that.

"Wow, that's amazing Isara!" Karl exclaimed

"Shhhh!!" Isara whispered.

After making sure no one had heard them, Isara continued,

"Promise you won't tell anyone about this?"

Karl nodded, "I promise"

"Thank you, I knew I could count on you" Isara said.

She backed up and accidentally knocked some nuts and bolts on the floor, they formed a circle on the ground. Karl looked at them and had a brilliant idea.

"That's it! I know what to make for Lynn!" he thought.

-

The next day, everyone was in the mess hall, celebrating the Feast of all Spirits, people in squad 7 were exchanging gifts, laughing, having a good time. Karl walked into the mess hall. He looked around for Lynn, as he walked around, he looked outside and saw what looked like Alicia crawling in the mud, he wondered what she was doing. He then realized what he was doing and continued to look for Lynn.

He saw Lynn talking with some of the other girls in Squad 7, he walked over to Lynn.

She saw him and said, "Oh, Karl! You're finally here!"

"H-hey Lynn." Karl sheepishly said.

Karl reached into his pocked and clenched a tiny object in his hand.

"Oh, that's right!, Lynn said, Here's your present!"

Lynn presented Karl with a shiny new pair of glasses, they were smaller than his old ones, but had clean looking frames.

"I noticed your old glasses were starting to get a little worn out, and you had trouble adjusting them since the battle at Fouzen, so, I decided to make a new pair just for you!"

"Wow, thanks Lynn!" Karl said.

He took off his old glasses, which were cracked and dirty, and put on his new ones. He could see very clearly from them, so clearly in fact, that when he looked at Lynn, she looked even more beautiful than he remembered.

"I-I got a present for you too, Lynn!" Karl said, he grabbed the tiny object out of his pocket and presented it to Lynn, it was a case, he opened it revealing a diamond necklace.

Lynn, looked at it with utter disbelief. "Karl! You made this yourself?"

"Um, actually, I had a little help with from this girl named Dorothy, she's really good at making jewelry. I remembered seeing you lose your necklace before when we were ran out of Fouzen, so, I decided to make you a new one."

Lynn looked at Karl, she had a smile across her face, but also had a sad look in her eyes.

"L-Lynn! What's wrong?" Karl asked

"Oh, it's just that, this necklace reminds me of my mother is all." Lynn replied.

Karl never thought of that, Lynn's old necklace was a memoir of her mother, and by giving her this new necklace, it reminded her of losing her.

"I-I'm sorry Lynn! I didn't realize…"

"No, It's okay, you are very sweet to go through the trouble of making this. I'm very grateful." Lynn said.

Karl was relived to here her say that, they than shared an embrace, then went back to the party to be with their friends.

-

Later that night, Karl rolled around in his bunk. He was nervous about tommorow, a feeling he at this point was used too. He hoped that Isara's smoke grenades will indeed protect everyone, and help them win the battle. Taking them one step closer to the end of this war...


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: **A Dream Interrupted.

It was almost time for Squad 7's battle at Marberry Shore, Karl, Lynn, and the other members of Squad 7 stood at attention in front of Welkin Gunther. He was about to give the squad their mission brief.

"Ok, our objective is to capture the enemy's base that's inside the cliffs ahead of us, as you know, there are turrets aligned on the cliff's walls, preventing a direct attack."

The squad moaned and grumbled, knowing that it was true. Karl, however had a smile spread across his face. Lynn looked at him with a puzzled look.

"Luckily though, Welkin continued, Isara was able to create smoke rounds for the Edelweiss, it will fire them up into the air, then land and create a smokescreen, masking our approach and catching the enemy off guard."

The squad murmured enthusiastically, perhaps they had a chance to win the battle after all.

"Ok, Welkin continued, as soon as the smoke round hits, you all run as fast as you can before it disappears, it won't last long after it has fired. Everyone prepare yourselves."

As the squad began to get into positions, Karl and Lynn looked over at Zaka, the man who helped the Squad reclaim Fouzen, had recently joined the squad as a tank commander. He was making some last minute adjustments to his tank, which he dubbed "Shamrock"

Karl and Lynn walked over to him, and Karl asked,

"A-are you going to be okay Zaka?"

Zaka turned and smiled, "Don't worry, this baby may be small, but I made some modified it using some spare parts from scrapped Imperial tanks, so it's pretty good on the defense."

Karl nodded, and he and Lynn got into position.

"Are you ready, Karl?" Lynn asked.

"Y-you bet I am!" Karl said. He had a gut feeling they were going to win this battle, with Isara's newest invention, how could they possibly lose?

Ahead of them were two towers with turrets on each side, waiting for enemy soldiers to foolishly run by them only to get mowed down. The Edelweiss aimed it's nozzle, and fired it's smoke round. The payload left a white trail in the air as it fell, and as soon as it landed, a cloud of white smoke appeared before the squad.

"Ok, go now 7's!" Welkin commanded.

The squad ran into the smoke, staying close to one another. Karl became a little paranoid of the turrets firing into the cloud and taking out anybody unlucky enough to be hit, but that soon went away when the squad got out onto the other side. Surprised imperials began to fire, however, luckily, their accuracy was off and were quickly taken out by the advancing squad.

Karl looked back at the towers they got past, their threat was, at least temporarily, subsided. The squad then reached a fork in the path. The right path wasn't big enough for tanks, so the Edelweiss and Shamrock took the left side to provide tank support. Meanwhile, the infantry charged to the right.

Karl was surprised there were so very few imperials in the area, and how fast they were succumbing to the squad. Perhaps it was because none of them had expected any soldier to get past their turrets, much less an entire squad. Although, the squad did faced some tanks in the way, but they were quickly subdued by the lancers.

-

Eventually, the squad reached the enemy base. It was the most well guarded of the encampment unsurprisingly, and with neither of the tanks with them to support them, they had quite a fight on their hands. Karl watched as Largo, Jann, and the other lancers positioned themselves behind the sand bags, firing at the tanks guarding the base. Unfortunately, they were moving to them quite quickly, and if they didn't do anything fast, the squad will be decimated.

"Look!" Alicia called out, we can get behind this building and flank them!"

Karl, Lynn, and the rest of the squad followed Alicia, as they got around the building, only to discover a large amount of mines in the way.

"Don't worry! We got it! Come on Karl! Homer!" Nadine said

Karl, Homer, and Nadine began to disarm the mines ahead of them, only to be discovered by some troops who checked behind the building.

"No!" Karl attempted to look around for anything to use as cover, but didn't find anything, he was at the mercy of the soldiers ahead of them, but then, he saw them fall right in front of them, he turned around and saw who shot them down.

"Keep going engineers! Rosie said, we'll cover you!"

It was a really tense moment, at anytime, Karl's head could be blown off, he worked as fast and carefully as he could to disarm the mines in front of the squad. Eventually, all the mines became disarmed, allowing the squad to advance.

Lynn slowed down and said to Karl,

"Great job, honey!"

"T-thanks Lynn"

"And you too Homer!" Edy said.

"No problem Ms. Edy…" Homer quietly said.

Soon, the squad was able to flank the imperials behind the tanks, and were dealt with quickly, at the same time, the tanks were destroyed as well, the base became theirs…

-

The squad took a temporary respite after the battle, Karl was helping Nadine repair the Shamrock, as it's treads took some damage from the battle, meanwhile, Lynn was cleaning out her gun. After a while Karl took a break and turned towards the Edelweiss, where Isara was working, he suddenly noticed Rosie heading towards her with something in her hand.

"Isara…" Rosie said

Isara turned around and said,

"Hi Rosie, how can I help you?"

Rosie revealed what looked like a doll in her hand,

"Well… you have already."

"You mean the doll I made?" Isara asked "I didn't know you kept it."

Karl was surprised, he had heard about Isara giving Rosie a darcsen doll, but she refused it. Apparently, the rumors were false.

"You said it was a protective charm didn't you?" Rosie asked

The whole squad turned towards the sound of Rosie talking to Isara. Many of them, including Cezary, were quite surprised Rosie was so much even talking to Isara.

"I still owe you one from the feast, so… anything you want, just name it."

Karl suddenly felt Lynn's hand holding his, she looked up at him and smiled, she was glad that Isara and Rosie were finally making nice.

Isara pondered over this new situation, and finally answered,

"Let me think… You know what? I'd like to hear you sing Rosie."

Rosie's eyes widened,

"Huh? You want me to… sing?"

"Yes, you told me before that you always enjoyed it. I'd really like to here you. I bet you're great."

Rosie fondled with the doll, "Okay then, it's a promise"

Rosie then reached out to shake Isara's hand, Karl found himself smiling, Rosie and Isara, who often didn't see eye to eye, were finally becoming friends, nothing else can go wrong now.

Suddenly, a loud gunshot went off, Karl flinched and looked all around him, and then turned back around, his eyes widened, Isara was lying on the ground.

"No…" Karl thought

Suddenly, a group of imperials started firing at them, Largo yelled at the squad to get down, Karl and Lynn quickly got into cover and started firing potshots at the attacking enemies. During the skirmish, Karl had one eye on Rosie, who was attempting to save Isara.

Eventually, the imperials retreated, as soon as they did, the whole squad surrounded Isara's body.

"Oh, no… Karl, do you think she'll be alright?" Lynn asked.

Karl couldn't answer that question, only Fina, the squad's medic could know for sure.

"Ok, everyone! Give her some air!" Fina demanded.

She checked the spot where Isara was shot, she had a look of horror in her eyes as soon as she did.

"The bullet has hit her vital organs, I don't think I can save her…" she said sadly.

"Isara!" Alicia panicked

"Isara, no…" Welkin said as he was cradling Isara's head.

Isara, who was sweating from her brow, gasping for air, turned her head towards Welkin.

"Sorry… your dream… I wanted… I so wanted… to make it real… just for you Welks.

"My dream? What do you mean?" Welkin asked

Isara began to struggle for air, "Before… you said you wanted to…. To fly… remember? You wanted … wings… So we could… see the… the sky together."

At this point Karl felt a tear down his eye. He wasn't sure what she was talking about, but she was trying to do something for Welkin, and now she can't do it.

" We will… We'll go flying real soon Is. I promise." Welkin said.

Isara slowly smiled, and then closed her eyes, never to awaken again.

"Isara?" Rosie said

"Isara!!!"

-

A few days later.

The squad was at the war cemetery, holding a funeral for the late Isara. After she was buried, the squad stood in front of her grave, and Welkin said,

"Isara… the dreams you left… It's up to us to build them."

They all saluted to honor their fallen comrade. After, a few members of the squad each went in front of the grave personally to give their parting words, Karl, slowly walked towards it, and began his speech.

"I-Isara, I just want to say, thank you."

He looked down on the ground with a sad look on his face.

"If it weren't for you, I-I probably would still be the coward I was before, I... I would've probably lost all hope of even showing Lynn I can be more than I am now…"

He then looked back up,

"But it was you, who pushed me forward, to pursue my dream, and as a way of thanking you, I want to make your dream come true, I'll do whatever I can to make this world a better place to live for darcsens."

"We both will." Lynn said, placing her hand on Karl's shoulder, "May you rest in peace, Isara."

They both smiled, and went back to the squad…


	16. Chapter 16

**Update: 12/5/09: Recently edited this chapter making sure that everything is past tense like it should be. Other than that, everything else is fine.**

**Chapter 16: **Separation

It was three weeks after the battle at Marberry Shore. Thanks to the efforts of Squad 7, Gallia has taken one step closer towards freedom. However, the victory at Marberry Shore was at the cost of Isara Gunther's life. Not only was she the Edelweiss's tank pilot, but was also a charismatic figure to many members of the squad. Especially to Karl, who considered her as a friend.

It was quite a melancholy atmosphere at Squad 7's quarters, everyone was depressed over Isara's death. At the lounge, some of the soldiers were trying to entertain themselves in order to forget. Karl, Lynn and their friends were playing card games, the one they are playing at them moment was Go Fish. As Karl awaited his turn, he looked at his hand, he started with about five cards, but ended up with ten. He was rather unlucky in these kind of games, every time he asked for a certain card from someone, they never seemed to have it and he had to take a card from the pile. He didn't mind though, he was with his friends and was having a little fun.

It was Homer's turn,

"Ms. Edy, do you have any fives?"

Edy looked at her hand, she indeed had fives, but she didn't intend to lose, so she decided to bluff.

"Go fish, Homer darling." she said with a smile.

"Oh, again…" Homer sighed as he reached out to the deck.

As they played, Karl took a look at Nadine, she looked quite sad, even a game of cards couldn't cheer her up. He then noticed that her hands were shaking, and her eyes were beginning to water.

"Um, Nadine? Are you alright?" Karl asked.

Almost immediately, Nadine slammed her cards onto the table, she then bursted out,

"I can't take this! When will all this be over?!? I knew I should've checked to see if there was anyone else outside the base! If I did, Isara would still be here!"

Nadine then laid her head on her arms on the table, and began to cry. Wavy placed his arm on her back in an attempt to console her.

"It wasn't your fault Nadine," Lynn said, "None of us foresaw what had happened."

"Gotta admit," Cezary, who was smoking a cigarette listening on the conversation. "I kinda miss the kid myself."

Everyone quickly turned and looked at him, dumbfounded to even hear him out of all people say that.

"She modified my scope so I can see further", Cezary explained, "I kinda owe her."

Karl was surprised , everyone missed Isara, even the darcsen haters like Cezary. He felt a little better knowing that he wasn't the only one mourning. He then looked at Lynn, who was also a little sad, he grabbed her hand and held it. Lynn looked and smiled, it was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless, and Karl was glad to ease her pain even a little.

-

**Next Day**

Everyone was at attention, they had recently received a new mission, and they were about to be briefed on what it was. Karl, as usual stood next to Lynn, he wondered what they were going to do next. Soon, Welkin stood in front of them and gave them their newest mission.

"Everyone, we have new orders, our next task is to liberate the town of Bruhl."

Karl's ears perked up, he remembered hearing that Bruhl was Welkin's hometown, and if that was true, it was also Isara's home as well.

"A-are you serious sir?!?" Alicia exclaimed, for it was her hometown as well.

"Quite serious Alicia, the regiment will surround the area while we go in and secure the plaza." Welkin replied

Just then, a young man with brown hair with a greenish hue wearing glasses came up to the front. Karl recognized him as Kries Czherny, he works in the R&D facility always making new weapons and upgrading old ones for the squad.

"Everyone, you all recognize Kries here, he's going to be the Edelweiss's new tank pilot." Welkin said

Throughout the squad came some murmurs and disgruntled voices, Karl was quite surprised himself, he didn't think Isara would be replaced already, but then he noticed the look of fear inside Kries' eyes, he was no doubt nervous about his new role bieng announced to everyone.

"Everyone, I may not be as good as Isara, but I will do my best to keep the Edelweiss in tip top shape, I won't let you all down." Kries said.

"You'll never take her place you bastard!" yelled a disgruntled squad member

Soon the entire squad was in an uproar, except for it's leaders and Karl and Lynn. Karl noticed Kries began to stiffen and look down on the ground. He looked scared and guilty at the same time.

"Stop it all of you!" commanded Welkin

"I know how you all feel, Isara's death was a massive blow to all of us, but you shall treat Kries the way you want to be treated. Do I make myself clear?" Welkin scolded

The squad reluctantly saluted and shouted yes sir to Welkin.

"All right, we began our march to Bruhl tomorrow, make sure to get plenty of rest, dismissed."

-

The squad was out in a dense forest in the middle of the night, they were making their way over to Bruhl. Normally, the squad would find someplace to rest for the night, but this time, Welkin was determined to get to Bruhl as soon as possible. It was understandable, Bruhl was Alicia, Isara, and his home. But Karl worried that this may end up being bad for the squad, considering they might not get any sleep, but he was afraid to object.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, Karl looked all around him and found a squad member lying on the ground, wounded. The whole squad went into a panic, but Welkin was determined to keep them in control.

"Everyone, calm down and get into combat positions!" he ordered.

Unfortunately, they didn't have the chance, as a missile from an enemy lancer hit the tank's side, the squad members who dodged the missile scattered. And as they did imperial soldier appeared from all sides and started to rush them. Karl frantically pulled out his rifle and started shooting, unfortunately, the panic had caused him to lose focus, causing him to miss all his targets. He then started to look for Lynn, hoping she was still able bodied, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"L-Lynn?!? Lynn! Where are you?!?" Karl called out.

"Karl! Over here!" Wavy called out, he was with Nadine and a few other soldiers, Karl quickly ran towards them.

As he did however, the blast from a stray grenade knocked him down.

"Gaaah!" he cried out.

He tried to get back up, but one of his packs was snagged on a branch. He couldn't reach it, so he struggled to get himself free, as he struggled, he caught sight on a group of imperials heading straight towards him.

"No! Not now!" Karl cried. He continued to struggle, but it was no use, he was stuck and couldn't move anywhere.

Just then, one of the shocktroopers he saw with Wavy and Nadine appeared in front of him.

He laughed maniacally as he fired at the unfortunate imperials that got caught in his line of fire.

When they were all dead, he shouted, "Yeehaw!"

He turned around and revealed himself as a young boy with what looked like an eye patch over his right eye, but upon closer inspection was actually half a goggle.

"The name's Vyse Inglebard, I don't believe we met yet, put er there!" he said raising his hand.

"Er, likewise, I'm Karl." Karl said as he shook Vyse's hand.

"I-If you don't mind, could you get me out of here?" Karl asked

"Already on it!" said a girl with orange hair with huge pigtails.

As she was setting him free, she also introduced herself,

"My name's Aika Thompson, a friend of Vyse here, sorry if he seems a bit strange."

"Um, no problem, not a problem at all!" Karl said, for he had experiences with strange people already.

After Karl was set free, the three quickly ran towards Nadine, Wavy, and another unfamiliar soldier, who had blond hair with a patch of red in front of it, almost like a bird.

"Wow! That was great Vyse! I wish I was able to do that!" he said

"Don't sweat it Alex! With practice you could do what I just did with ease." he said with a hearty laugh

"I wouldn't really recommend it…" Aika whispered.

The group quickly retreated from the intense battle. Karl was still worried though, Lynn was still missing and he had no idea where she was…

-

As soon as the group was far away enough from the action, they found a place to rest so they could save their energy to rejoining the squad, Karl became scared, he and Lynn were separated again and he ha no idea what to do.

Nadine, who had known Karl long enough to know what he was thinking just by looking at him, patted him on the back and reassured him.

"Don't worry Karl, I'm sure Lynn's alright."

"T-thanks Nadine" Karl replied.

"Who's Lynn, she a friend of yours?" asked Vyse.

"Well, kind of more than that really…" Karl said sheepishly.

"Oh, I see, don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Vyse said with a smile

"The whole squad already knows, Vyse." said Aika

"Oh, heh heh…" Vyse chuckled.

Karl then realized something, Vyse and Aika didn't look Gallian, in fact he did not believe he had ever seen anyone like them before.

"S-so, um, where are you from?" Karl asked

"What?" Vyse answered

"I-I mean, it's just that, you don't look like you live here in Gallia, I…"

"Hey don't sweat it, were not from Gallia."

"Nope!" Alex exclaimed "They're from this land called Arcadia! It's supposed to be this awesome place where ships fly high in the sky, and there are pirates everywhere!"

Aika nudged Alex, "Okay, okay that's enough…"

"What? It's true you know, Aika!" Vyse said

"Yeah, but…"

Karl was finding this hard to believe, flying ships? Pirates? This couldn't be real, on the other hand, he had witnessed a valkyria with his own eyes, so anything's possible he supposed.

"It looks like it's almost dawn, we should get moving." Wavy said.

Everyone agreed and started moving again.

-

As the group made there way forward, they cautiously kept an eye out for any imperials in the area. It was very quiet, which made everything seem unsettling. As Karl walked, he suddenly felt something strange below his feet, he looked down and jumped.

"Ahh!" Karl yelled.

"Karl what is it??" Nadine exclaimed

Karl pointed at the dead body of an imperial soldier.

"Don't worry man, he's already dead!" Alex said

"I-I know, it's just…"

"Wait a sec," Aika said, "if there are dead imperials here, then that means the rest of the squad can't be too far."

Everyone agreed and kept their eyes peeled. Soon, they followed the trail of dead imperial bodies to a small town, as they got closer, they saw a massive number of people evacuating the village, Karl wondered what was going on. As they got in closer, they found even more dead bodies of imperials on the ground. But this time, they found a stray bullet on the ground. Nadine, who was an expert on such matters, picked it up and inspected it.

"It's a bullet from a Gallian S-10. That's a militia standard rifle, we must be close to the others!" Nadine said

Karl hoped that they could find Lynn among the survivors. They then started searching the town, there was a major skirmish here, but it didn't look like any Gallians, civilian or militia were harmed. As Karl started to head towards a corner, he then started hearing a very sharp noise.

"Gaaah!" he cried.

The sound was loud, shrill, and very painful, it was almost like listening to a cat being eaten by a bunch of hungry ravens, which were at the same time cawing out in pain. It was almost too much to bare, but he couldn't stop now, he must find his fellow squad mates.

Eventually, from the distance, he saw a group of bodies lying on the ground, they were militia. Karl's heart sank, he was hoping they would be alive. But it was not until he saw Lynn's body, did he started to lose control.

"Lynn!!! NOOO!!!"

He charged straight towards her body, hoping that there was still a chance to save her. When he finally reached her, he started wailing.

"Lynn! Lynn! Don't leave me!!"

Lynn slowly opened her eyes, and said,

"K-Karl??"

Karl's eyes widened, she was okay.

"Lynn! What happened?? What happened to everyone?!?"

Around them laid the bodies of Susie Evans, Jann Walker, Homer, and even Marina lying on the ground, but upon closer inspection, they were not harmed. In fact, they got themselves back up as soon as he asked. They were all groaning as they got up.

"We're fine Karl, it's just that, well…" Lynn hesitated.

"What? What happened??"

"Edy sang to us." Marina said coldly.

Karl was dumbfounded, "E-Excuse me?!?"

"She's serious honey…" Jann said, "She was so bad we all were forced on the ground."

"Now, I won't be able to hear well for quite a while…" Susie said.

"So, that was that horrible sound I just heard??" Karl asked.

"Hmm, hmm, afraid so…" Homer said.

Suddenly Edy came and found everyone back up.

"I'm back darlings! I hope you had a nice nap!" she said

"Oh my, Karl! You're back!"

Karl nodded, "Yup, and so did Wavy, Nadine, Vyse, Aika, and Alex."

At that moment, the people he had mentioned came and reunited with the others. They talked to one another about their adventures away from the squad. Apparently, Lynn and the others were helping a small village evacuate from an imperial invasion, and succeeded.

-

Soon, the entire squad was back together. As they stood in attention if front of Welkin, he began his speech.

"Listen, I apologize for my rashness. If we actually would've camped out for the night instead of pushing forward, none of this would have happened."

Karl was surprised, even the great Welkin Gunther made his fair share of mistakes, he was glad that even he had flaws.

"But, what matters it that everyone made it alive. This has shown me that even without my guidance, you were all able to use your friends, allies, and natural abilities to make it out of this intense situation, and I'm proud of you all."

The whole squad saluted Welkin, as a way of saying thank you. He saluted back and finished,

"Now, let's continue with our mission, to save Bruhl."

"Yes sir!"

Karl, Lynn, and the rest of the squad continued their way over to Bruhl, where their next major battle will take place..

**That was my longest chapter to date so far. Phew. I apologize if I made Vyse and Aika out of character at all, I never actually placed Skies of Arcadia and therefore, don't know much about them. Thanks for reading and remember to review and give me any pointers on how I can improve.**

**Have a good day!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**: Reclaiming Isara's Home

The sun was shining through the forest's many trees. A tiny little beam got into Karl's eye, which he responded by rubbing it. As the squad moved closer and closer to their destination, they began to see a large grassy field ahead of them, almost similar to the dream Karl had back at Fouzen, only this time, he and Lynn were in Militia garb, and it had Gallian tanks covering most of it. The tanks belonged to the Gallian Main Army, who were ordered to set up a perimeter around Bruhl while Squad 7 went inside. Again, much like Fouzen, only this time, the ones who are reclaiming their home were Welkin and Alicia. The many similarities to the situation at hand compared to Fouzen astounded Karl.

As they approached the tanks, Karl sees two soldiers looking at the town, as they walked by them, Karl overheard their conversation,

"Why are we being ordered to help save this trash heap?" said the first officer

"I don't know, this place has no worth to the military, whoever used to live here must've had it real bad." said the second officer.

They both laughed out loud. Karl glared at them, how dare they talk like that about that town. He looked up at Welkin, who was out of the hatch of the Edelweiss, he had a subtle but noticeable look of anger on his face. As the squad got ready for battle, an officer approached Welkin to tell him of what they will be facing.

"Just to let you know Lt. Gunther, there's going to be heavy opposition near the plaza, anti tank mines, lancers, and even anti-tank turrets, there's also reports of snipers in the area. So try to be careful, ok?"

"Thanks for the heads up, we'll stay on guard." Welkin replied.

By the sounds of things, Karl is definetly going to have his hands full. He and the other engineers will have to take care of mines while at the same time be wary of snipers. He is also worried about the safety of the tanks, especially the Edelweiss, which is being driven by Kries, who is about to enter his first real battle. In other words, the odds are heavily stacked against them.

-

As the squad was exploring the town's outer area, Karl stared in disbelief at the destroyed houses. They were exactly like his hometown, it was almost stomach churning. He then noticed a squad member named Jane Turner run ahead of them and then stand in front of what looked like a flower shop. She curled her hands into fists and started baring her teeth.

"Those damned dirty imps!! They destroyed my flower shop!! I'll make them pay!!" yelled Jane

Karl was surprised, he had no idea Jane lived in Bruhl also, she barely talks about herself around anyone.

"Jane! Be quiet!" Welkin snapped. "We don't want them to know we're here."

Jane glared at Welkin, but she decided to follow his orders anyway.

-

Soon, the squad finally caught sight of the main plaza, but it was packed to the seams with imperial defenses. Alicia, who brought her binoculars, scouted the immediate area in front of them. After a few minutes of scanning, she reported to the squad what she has seen.

"Just as the officer said, there's anti-tank weaponry spread throughout the plaza."

"Charging in there would be suicidal, what are we going to do…" Welkin pondered

Finally, after a few moments, Welkin finally came up with a plan.

"Ok, listen up, as you know, our tanks are unable to get close to the plaza without risking getting destroyed by those anti-tank turrets." Welkin said.

After wiping his brow, Welkin continued,

"We'll send in a small team which will consist of a lancer to take out the turrets, however, charging directly towards them would lead to casualties, as there are snipers in the area."

Karl looked down on the ground, the situation was getting worse. What could they possibly do?

"Luckily though," Welkin continued, "Alicia and I used to live in this town, as some of you are aware, and I know for a fact that there is a path that serves as a detour to the head of the plaza, if this works, we can quickly destroy those cannons, and catch the enemy off guard. Is everyone clear?"

"Yes sir!" the squad replied.

"Ok," Welkin continued, "Alicia will serve as the leader of that group, since she knows her way around."

"Sir" Alicia replied

"Along with her, we'll send Edy, Lynn, Jann, Homer, and Susie to aid her. Jann's task being to blow up the turrets."

"You got it Hon!" Jann said with a wink

"Alright, prepare to get into combat positions!" Welkin commanded

As everyone was getting ready, Lynn went over to Karl, she placed her hand on his shoulder, and said.

"Good luck Karl, be careful out there."

Karl, who was reluctant to see Lynn go off without him, reluctantly replied,

"Y-you too."

Than Welkin's famous quote "Squad 7, move out!" rang out amongst the squad, and almost immediately, Lynn was off with Alicia and the others. Meanwhile, Karl simply followed behind the tanks and provided support when needed.

Immediately, he watched as the Edelweiss moved forward. It fired a round at an imperial tank off in the distance. Unfortunately, the blast missed it. The tank responded in kind and fired back, as a result, the Edelweiss took a direct hit on the front, leaving a huge dent of the Edelweiss. Karl, who was taken aback by the blast, got frightened seeing the Edelweiss take a hit like that. He began to fear what would happen if it was hit by an anti-tank turret. Luckily though, the Edelweiss continued to move forward, fired another round, and took out the tank to make up for it's previous failure.

With the tank out of the way, the squad began to move forward, ever moving cautiously to avoid snipers in the area. Eventually, they reached a small field of mines in the area.

"Engineers! Get rid of those mines!" Welkin ordered "Everyone else, make sure to cover them!"

Karl and Nadine quickly proceeded to get rid of the mines. By now, Karl was a pro at this, as he was disarming mines left and right, he felt that nothing can stop him now. Suddenly, he heard Nadine cry in pain, he turned and saw that Nadine was bleeding from her leg.

"Nadine! What happened!?!" Karl exclaimed

"I-I've been shot in the leg…" Nadine said in pain.

"Sniper! Get out of there!" Welkin said.

Karl did, he hid behind some rubble, but not before hearing a bullet hit the ground behind him. His heart was racing, Nadine was injured and he could have been next have she got hit in the head. He watched as Fina dragged Nadine away while a pale looking women with light drown hair came in. Karl recognized her as the woman who helped him practice his aim, Catherine 'O' Hara. In mere seconds, she took a look into the scope of her rifle and took out the sniper.

"Ok, the sniper's down. Karl, get rid of the rest of these mines!" Welkin commanded.

"Y-yes sir!" Karl said.

Karl did not feel comfortable being the only one disarming mines, especially knowing there could be other snipers in the area. Eventually though, the mines were all gone, and the squad could continue.

-

As soon as the words, "Squad 7, move out!" were heard, Lynn raced towards with Alicia, Edy, Susie, Jann, Homer, and Marina. While the main battle was being taken out on the streets, they were assigned to take a detour to flank the anti-tank cannons and take them out from there.

As Lynn was moving alone with the others, she began to wonder, why was she assigned to the same group of soldiers whom she was just with saving a little town not too long ago? Was it just coincidence, or was Welkin planning something? It seemed rather reckless of him to be making experiments in the middle of a heated battle, but they always seemed to work before.

As the group got behind one of the houses, Marina inched her way towards the corner, she peered behind it and spotted the enemy, a few seconds later, she turned to the group.

"Seven ground troops, two snipers hiding in houses behind them, beyond that are the turrets." she said.

"Wow Marina, you have really good eyes." Lynn said

Marina didn't respond to the compliment. She instead loaded up her rifle. Lynn was a little annoyed that Marina wouldn't even accept a simple compliment, but decided not to think about it.

"Ok, here's the plan," Alicia said, "Marina, you sneak in and take out those snipers as quickly as you can."

"Got it." Marina said

"Edy, Lynn, once both snipers are dead, you go in a attack the enemy head on, make sure to stay under cover."

"You got it!" Edy confidently said

"M'am." Lynn saluted

"Susie, Homer and I will proved suppressing fire from afar, do you think you can handle that Susie?"

"I guess so.." Susie reluctantly said.

"Once all the forces are down, Jann will head in and take out those cannons."

"You got it!" Jann said

Soon the plan was set into motion, Lynn watched as Marina made her way into the tall grass. She waited for the signal to move forward. A few moments later, a shot rang out from Marina's rifle, a few more seconds later, a second shot rang out. Marina waved a hand signal signifying that the snipers were down, and Edy and Jane could move forward to attack.

"Good work Marina! Now, lets show these imps who's boss!" Edy said

"Good luck Ms. Edy." Homer said to Edy as she and Lynn were moving out.

"I don't need luck Homer darling, I can take these guys on without it!" Edy replied.

Lynn moved forward with Edy, in a crouched position so they could duck under bullets that may fly at them from the corner. They dashed over to some nearby sandbags and began to fire, catching some unprepared imperials unprepared, causing them to fall dead. As Lynn was reloading, she caught a glimpse of Alicia, Susie, and Homer a few yards behind them firing at the imperials, forcing them to remain in cover.

Seeing this opportunity, Lynn grabbed a grenade from her pocket and pulled the safety pin, she quickly got out of cover and threw as far as she could at her enemies, the imperials who saw the grenade quickly jumped out of cover, while the ones who didn't ended up facing a premature death by the blast, the remaining troops were quickly gunned down by Lynn.

"Wow, nice job Lynn!" Edy said.

Lynn smiled and said "Thank you, I've been practicing."

"Why, you are almost as good as me. Almost anyway." Edy boasted.

Soon, Jann came in and took aim at the AT turrets, which were keeping the tanks from moving into the plaza, and fired. Three shot later, all the turrets were destroyed.

-

"The AT's have been destroyed, let's move out 7's!" Welkin exclaimed.

Karl was surprised to hear that the cannons were taken out so early. Lynn must have done her job quite efficiently. Soon, the squad came in and wiped out what was left of the plaza, and eventually, claiming it.

"Operation complete 7's! We claimed the Plaza!" Welkin said to his squad.

Karl was happy that they succeeded, not just because of a job well done, but that he was able to help reclaim Isara's home. But at the same time, wished she was here to see it.

-

It was night time at Bruhl, the whole squad was celebrating their victory. Kries was being celebrated as well, for assuring the squad that the Edelweiss was still in good hands. Nadine also made a fast recovery, while she couldn't actually particpate, she enjoyed sitting down and watching everyone. While the festivities were going on, Karl went up to a grassy hill, underneath the moonlight. He noticed Lynn there, and went up to talk to her.

As he approached, Lynn heard his footsteps and began to speak, still looking up at the moon.

"You know Karl, this kind of reminds me of when you proposed to me." she said

"I-it does?" Karl said slightly confused.

"Of course it does silly. I remembered that you brought me up on top of a grassy hill underneath the moonlight, like we usually do, and when the moon was completely shown, you kneeled down and asked me to marry you. I'll never forget it."

Karl did indeed remember how it all happened, he remembered how scared he was to even utter the question to her.

He walked up to beside Lynn, they stared at the night sky for a while, until finally, he spoke and broke the silence.

"I-I was kind of hoping we'd be together during the mission earlier today. You know, considering we were separated from each other twice now."

"Twice?" Lynn asked.

"You know, on the way here to Bruhl when the enemy ambushed us?" Karl asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but it wasn't even that long." Lynn replied

"I-I guess not…"

A moment passed, and then Lynn finally spoke.

"Karl, I didn't want to tell you this now, but…" Lynn hesitated.

"W-what is it?" Karl asked.

"Do you remember how I was assigned with Edy and the other earlier today?" she asked

Karl nodded.

"Well, Lt. Gunther had decided that since we've worked so well together, he had decided to form us into a special ops group used to tackle special missions. So we may end up seeing each other less often than usual."

Karl was stunned, he didn't want Lynn to leave his side, especially during a time of war where either of them could die at any time.

"B-but Lynn! I thought we promised each other, that we'd stay by each other's side, protect each other no matter what!" Karl exclaimed.

"Karl, I'm sorry, but this was the Lt.'s orders, you're just going to have handle things by yourself." Lynn replied

"But.."

Lynn interrupted, with a look of annoyance on her face. "Listen to me Karl, we both know that you want me to protect you. I don't want to have to be the one who always protects you, you're supposed to be the man."

Karl was taken back by what she said, he said nothing.

"Remember when we were kids Karl? When you were pushed down and teased by those bullies? And I had to save you? I told you that you have to learn to stand on your own and be a man, because I won't always be there to save you."

Karl still didn't say anything, all he could do was nod, with a sad look on his face.

Moments passed, neither one of them said anything. Eventually, Lynn finally spoke,

"I'm heading back to the squad, good night Karl."

She walked back, Karl didn't dare turn to look, as he was too scared to let Lynn see him cry. Karl sat down on the hill top and looked at the stars, playing that conversation over and over in his head. She was right, and he knew it. How will he once and for all prove, that he, can be strong enough to protect her?

**That's all for this chapter, thanks for reading! Remember to leave reviews with any constructive feedback. I want to be at my best for the chapters I'm about to write.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I apologize for taking so long to update this, I had several reasons for not updating this:**

**1. School**

**2. Left 4 Dead 2 (Not a good reason :P)**

**3. Thinking about quitting, but thanks to DC20's encouragement, and reading a horrible VC fan fiction made by someone who's name I won't mention, finishing what I started.**

**Thank you for your patience and support.**

* * *

**Chapter 18:**The Plains of Naggiar

Karl was in the R&C Facility, working on the Edelweiss. He was depressed over what Lynn said to him,

"_Listen to me Karl, we both know you want me to protect you. I don't want to be the one who always protects you because you're supposed to be the man."_

It continued playing inside Karl's head over and over again. And now that Lynn was going to be in a special group away from him, what is he going to do? While he was thinking, he fumbled around for a wrench in his toolbox. He realized he forgot to bring one with him, so he went over to find Kries and Leon to see if they had a spare he could borrow.

As he went towards there part of the facility, Karl gazed at a large contraption in the middle. It had tiny wheels at the bottom, so it must be some kind of vehicle, but it didn't look like anything he had seen before. As Karl went closer to it, he saw Kries and Leon working on it from behind. He walked over to them and asked,

"W-what is this thing?" Karl asked.

"Oh, hey Karl! How's it going man?" Leon asked. Leon was a brown haired man with bangs over the sides of his face. He was always cheerful, and very intelligent despite his mannerisms.

"It's a plane." Kries answered Karl. "We've been working on it for quite sometime."

Karl remembered hearing about planes before, but he never saw one before. He continued to ask,

"W-why are you guys building it? It doesn't seem like it has any weapons on it."

Both Kries and Leon frowned, they looked down on the ground with depressed looks on their faces.

Karl though he had offended them "Ah, I'm sorry! I.."

"No, its fine." Kries cut him off. "You see, before Isara died, she was working on this."

"I-Isara? For what?" Karl asked

"She was working on this for her brother you see, she wanted to fly with him once the war was over." Leon answered.

Karl thought back to the moment Isara died, he remembered her saying he wanted to make Welkin fly. He finally understood what she meant.

"So now, we feel that it is our obligation to finish what Isara started." Kries said

"Yeah man, we owe it to her, she saved your guy's butts so many times." Leon added "In fact if it weren't for her, I'd be out of a job! Ha- ha!"

Karl stood there for a while as Kries and Leon worked, after a few moments, Karl finally said,

"L-let me help you guys. I feel I should help finish what Isara started too." Karl announced

Both Leon and Kries were surprised. They didn't expect anyone else to help them.

"Thanks! We could use an extra pair of hands!" Kries exclaimed.

Karl nodded and began to work alongside the pair. Hopefully with his help, the plane will be finished. He owed Isara for helping him, and became determined to finish what she started.

Later, the squad once again assembled at the tank garage. Karl stood next to Wavy and Nadine. Lynn was not there for once which made Karl sad, he wondered where she could be. He then saw Welkin, who was about to give them their next mission.

"Squad 7, our next mission will most likely be our biggest yet." he began "Every single one of Gallia's forces are being sent to the plains of Naggiar."

Karl remembered hearing about Naggiar, it was where one of the biggest battles of the first Europan war took place.

"This battle could very well decide the outcome of the war. So, I want you all to do your part. If we can win this one battle, we'll see a free country soon after!"

The whole squad applauded for Welkin, including Karl. Unfortunately, he had a lot on his mind at the moment, he wondered where Lynn was.

As Karl searched the base for Lynn, he looked around at the squad. Many of them had mixed reactions of the upcoming battle. Some were ecstatic knowing that this could be their last real battle, while others were scared out of their wits. Karl felt like he belonged in the latter group, but at the same time, he knew that he was close to winning a peaceful future for him and Lynn. But was their still a future?

He finally found Lynn who was walking out with the detachment which included Edy, Homer, Marina, Susie, and Jann. They both made eye contact, she waved goodbye to her teammates and approached him.

"Um… H-hi Lynn…" Karl sheepishly said.

"Hello Karl." Lynn said looking a bit impatient.

Karl began to stutter, "I-I was w-wondering why you weren't at the meeting today."

"Well if you must know, the detachment and I were given special orders. We're to be sent over to support the Gallian Army in the front lines."

"I see…" Karl said under his breath.

There was a long pause, until finally, Lynn broke the silence.

"Well Karl, we won't be seeing each other for a while. Take care of yourself out there."

"You too…" Karl said under his breath.

Lynn walked off, leaving Karl alone. He kept thinking about what Lynn said to him, which made him hesitate to say anything. A few hours later, Karl went back to the barracks and went to bed. He did not see Lynn anywhere in the barracks…

Karl was sitting in the back of a deployment van on the way to Naggiar, he looked out from the backside and saw a huge line of Gallian forces all in a large convoy. This was truly going to be the biggest battle in the war. Hours passed, Karl watched as the familiar green grass and bountiful trees slowly turned into decaying soil and dead trees. They had finally reached Naggiar.

Karl remembered learning that Naggiar was once a beautiful place filled with flora and fauna, teeming with wildlife. However, the biggest battle in the first europan war took place there, and soon the land became a wasteland, a graveyard of all the life lost to the horrors of war.

Surprisingly, despite all of this, Karl did not feel scared like he normally did. The entire war he had went through taught him many things, death can come at you at any moments notice, as Isara proved. An entire minority can be subjected to slavery and torture at a whim when production was needed, as Fouzen pointed out. But at the same time, this war had also taught him that Karl was never alone. He had made several friends throughout this journey, who helped save him numerous times.

That was when Karl realized, just because Lynn isn't with him, doesn't mean he was facing this battle alone, he had the entire squad with him, doing their best to make sure no one on their team died. That's what truly makes a soldier strong, the strive to protect their country and their fellow Gallians. Perhaps if Karl helped protect the others, he will learn to protect Lynn. The only thing Karl had left to do, was hope for Lynn's safety among her detachment…

The squad deployed inside of deep trenches. Karl looked around and wondered where the squad's tanks were, it was then the squad received a radio signal, the person who was speaking was Welkin,

"Alright Sevens, listen up. Our objective is to capture the enemy's base camp over at the enemy's trenches. The tanks are unable to help you at the moment due to rockets bombing the land between the two trenches. So you will all have to safely reach the other side and capture the midway camp giving orders to fire those rockets, than Zaka and I will come in and help you."

Karl looked through his binoculars and gazed at the flatland ahead of them, it was large, which meant they would be wide open to fire if they didn't move fast enough. However, Karl remembered that the squad faced a lot worse than this, he was confident knowing there was still a chance of them succeeding.

Karl crouched next to his fellow squad mates, which consisted of Alicia, Wavy, Vyse, and Alex. They all waited until the round of bombs hitting the flatland began to stop. Once it did, they would all charge as fast as they could to get to the other side. As the bombs were exploding, Karl heard Alicia spoke,

"Ok, get ready."

A few moments later, the bombs ceased fire, and Alicia shouted.

"Ok, now!!"

Karl and the others charged across the flatlands. To Karl, the enemy's trenches seemed really far away. But he knew that if he stopped, he'd be caught in the next wave of bombs. As the group got closer to the other side, Karl saw as a duo of imperial shocktroopers stood up and fired upon the group.

"Get down!" Alicia ordered

Karl immediately ducked a slit second after she said that. The bullets flew over them harmlessly. Unfortunately, Wavy wasn't so lucky, for he was shot in the leg.

"No, Wavy!" Karl called out.

Karl watched as Wavy fell down on the ground, he was bleeding from his leg. Meanwhile, Vyse and Alex shot down both shocktroopers with little effort.

"Hurry! The bombs will hit again any second!" Vyse called out.

Karl watched as both Vyse and Alex lifted Wavy by his shoulders as they rushed towards to the trenches. They were all able to make it without getting caught in the blast.

As they took a brief respite, Karl brought out his ragnaid and healed Wavy's leg.

"A-are you going to be okay from here?" Karl quickly asked

"I'll be fine. Thank you Karl" Wavy answered

Karl felt happy knowing that he was able to help Wavy. However, that feeling was short lived as the squad began to move again.

After sneaking about the trenches for a few minutes, Karl and the others finally reached the midway camp, which was giving orders to fire the missiles. Karl only saw a few troops inside the camp, it was likely that they didn't expect the enemy to cross their trenches. Karl watched as Alicia aimed her rifle up in the air and fired a grenade, which landed inside the camp. The explosion caused the troops to scatter in an unorganized mess. Vyse and Alex proceded to rush in and finish them off. After that, the camp was captured.

"Enemy camp occupied! Lieutenant Gunther, you and Zaka are free to move in!" Alicia said to Welkin over the radio.

"Alright, we'll be right there with you momentarily!" Welkin responded.

Karl was relieved, soon the squad will have Welkin and Zaka's support in the battle. He knew they could win this. Unfortunately, he became filled with dread as soon as Welkin said,

"Oh no, the Valkyria's arrived!"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Hopefully, I'll get the next chapter in before Christmas. If not, expect it in January. Once again, thank you all for your support of this story! And I wish you all a Happy Holiday!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: The Twin Valkyria**

"Oh no, the Valkyria's arrived!" Welkin said over the radio.

Upon hearing those words, Karl became filled with dread.

"T-the same Valkyria from Barious?? Karl said.

"I'm afraid so." Alicia replied grimly

Karl remembered that untimely encounter like it was just yesterday. He had just entered the militia at the time, and was as green as they come. He thought the trip to Barious was going to be a regular battle, but then the leader of the Imperial Invasion Front himself entered the battle. Along with the Valkyria. He remembered being frozen stiff at the mere sight of her, which would have got him killed had Marina not distracted her.

Karl had heard that the Valkyria would be in this battle for Naggiar, but he didn't believe that Squad 7, out of all possible squads, would actually face her again.

"7's! Keep heading towards their base camp! If we can capture it, the Valkyria may be forced to fall back!" Welkin commanded.

At that moment, Karl spotted more of the squad coming towards the recently captured camp. It consisted of Largo and Rosie, along with Cherry, a blonde haired girl with a pony-tail on the right side of her head, and Hannes, a strong looking man with curly brown hair.

"You heard the boss man, move!" Largo shouted.

Karl ran alongside the squad out of the camp towards the base camp up on top of a steep hill. Karl was never good around steep places, especially considering he had to carry spare ammunition for his squad mates. As they ran up, Karl began to slow down.

"Come on Karl! We gotta move!" Largo said when he noticed Karl was lagging behind.

"I'll help." Hannes grunted as he pulled Karl along by the arm.

Karl was surprised how strong Hannes was, as he felt an incredible rush thanks to his help.

As the group got closer to the base camp, Karl looked out into the distance. He watched in horror as the valkyria blasted a group of tanks with one blast from her lance. He also saw the Edelweiss and Shamrock firing mortars at it from afar in an effort to slow it down, while at the same time moving into bunkers to avoid the blasts. The situation was dire, and Karl had started to revert back to his nervousness, but the sound of a bullet whizzing by brought him back to his senses and back towards the situation at hand. A small group of imperial soldiers was firing at the squad from above. Karl and the others quickly dived behind a group of rocks for cover, where they could formulate a plan of attack.

"Scouts! Suppress those soldiers!" Alicia shouted "Meanwhile, shocktroopers, lancers, and engineers try to get around the camp and attack them from behind!

Karl watched as Alicia and the other scouts peeked out from the rocks and fired at the imperials, forcing them to get behind cover. This allowed everyone else a small opportunity to dash around the base camp without worry of being fired upon.

"Alright, let's move!" Rosie called out.

Karl and the rest of the group dashed out from behind the rocks and ran around the camp. As he ran, he heard the sound of the valkyria firing again. A few seconds later, he heard the radio come on.

"Squad 2 has sustained heavy casualties!"

He knew they were running out of time, if they didn't capture the camp quickly enough, the squad may lose some lives as well.

As the group finally got around to the other side of the camp, Karl heard what sounded like a mechanical whirring. He saw that there was a tank in the camp, and it's turret was aiming at them.

"T-tank! Get down!" Karl yelled

Almost immediately, the squad got down on the ground, the tank's payload flew straight over them.

"Nice hearing pal!" Vyse complimented.

Karl was surprised at himself. He was never that reactive and take charge before. If it weren't for him there would've been a very good chance that the group would've gotten hit by that tank shell. He was rather glad that he was able to help the squad out like that. After that, Largo retaliated and fired a lance straight towards the tank's radiator. An explosion came soon afterward. This caused the enemies inside the camp to panic as they struggled to get behind cover. Squad 7 went in a and neutralized the enemies within it.

"Enemy base has been captured!" Alicia announced on the radio.

And sure enough, the valkyria began to fall back, as Karl watched he let out a huge sigh.

"W-we did it! We drove her back! I can't believe it!" Karl exclaimed

"I wouldn't get excited now Karl." Largo said wiping his brow. "This battle's just beginning."

As soon as Karl heard those words, his happiness went away. Largo was right, this battle was far from over. The Gallians had suffered heavy casualties in this one skirmish alone. He began to wonder whether they'll win this time…

-

Karl, along with other members of the squad, were out looking for any imperial stragglers hiding out in the trenches. Karl was uncomfortable with this kind of job, an enemy could jump out from a corner at any moment and he'd have only a few seconds to react. Luckily though, he still had the support of his comrades if that were to happen.

"See anything yet Wavy?" Karl asked

"No, not yet…" Wavy replied.

A few seconds later, there was a snap. Karl twitched at the sound, he aimed his gun and looked around wildly. He ended up pointing at Wavy.

"Karl! Watch where you're pointing that!" Wavy exclaimed, startled by the gun.

"S-sorry…" Karl meekly said.

The group then heard footsteps. They were coming closer and closer to their position.

"They're probably gonna come from that corner, hide!" Vyse whispered.

Karl hid behind a corner, he aimed his gun at the corner the footsteps were coming from, and waited. Sweat began to roll down his brow, but he did not dare wipe it. He continued to aim at the corner getting ready to fire.

"Wait! Stop!!" Nadine yelled when she saw who was making the footsteps.

Karl turned and looked at Nadine for a second, then turned back around. In front of him was Lynn and the Edy Detachment.

"L-Lynn!" Karl exclaimed.

"Hello Karl." Lynn said to him with a small smile.

Karl was slightly relieved to see Lynn smile at him again like she used to, but at the same time, he still sensed her displeasure with him, which made him on edge.

"What are you guys doing back?" Nadine asked.

"We were all ordered to be sent back to the squad. Isn't that great?" Edy answered

-

The group was on their way back to the camp, as they were walking, Karl asked,

"So, what happened in the front lines?"

Lynn and the others made sad faces when he asked that, and for a while they didn't answer, until Lynn finally spoke.

"The valkyria…she almost completely decimated the front troops, we were lucky enough to survive."

"It was horrible…" Susie added. "Hundreds of men were completely evaporated in front of our eyes. When will it end?"

Susie broke down in tears, Jann placed his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

Karl felt guilty for asking, his squad mates were also affected by the war. He could even tell that Marina, just by looking at her, that she too was affected as well through the look of her eyes. He hoped that this war shall end soon.

-

When the group finally made it back to camp, they found that everyone was running around in a panic.

"Damn it! How could this have happened??" Rosie said

"W-what's happening??" Karl asked

"Alicia's been shot!" Rosie exclaimed.

"What??" Karl and the others exclaimed

"Is she… is she going to be okay?" Lynn desperately asked.

"I don't know…" Rosie said grimly as she walked away to help calm down the squad.

Karl was horrified, Alicia was one of the squad's best soldiers. She was also one of the most charismatic of the squad, she always helped the squad push forward and improved their morale. What would happen to the squad if she were to die? He then watched as Alicia was being carried into the medic's tent. He also watched as Welkin was walking very closely behind the people carrying her in. He looked as if he was in huge distress.

"No… not again." Lynn whispered as she fell down on her knees.

Karl looked at Lynn, she looked as if she was about to cry, but no tears came out. He looked cloer into her eyes, they had become dark and gloomy. They were the exact opposite of what her eyes were like before the war had started. And all he could do was stand there. He wanted to comfort Lynn, but he too was filled with fear and hopelessness. This war was taking it's toll on everyone. His confidence that he and the rest of the squad will be able to pull though wavered.

-

Days had passed, the battle at Naggiar continued to rage around the Sevens. Karl was helping fix the tanks. It was the only thing that helped kept his mind off of what seemed like hell on earth. He had recently learned that the bullet that hit Alicia was from a Gallian sniper rifle, meaning that the person who shot her must have been from their side. The mere thought of someone on their side shooting his or her own comrade frightened Karl. They most likely had lost their minds and became indiscriminate of who they were fighting. Further proving more and more that the situation at hand was becoming hopeless.

Still, as long as his squad was alive, especially Lynn, Karl wouldn't completely lose it. After finishing up on the tanks, Karl was about to head back to bed. But then, as he was about to enter his tent, he saw Lynn standing outside. Considering how Lynn is behaving towards him at the moment, he thought about not talking to her, but maybe this time she won't act so coldly? He decided to find out and walked towards her.

"Um, hi Lynn…" Karl said to her.

Lynn looked at Karl and then turned her head back again. She was giving Karl the cold shoulder, as he feared, they stood next to each other for a few moments, not speaking. Until he finally asked,

"Where's the lieutenant?"

"He's still next to Alicia." Lynn answered. "He hasn't left her side ever since she got shot."

Karl was surprised that Welkin was so dedicated to Alicia. He'd never do the same with anyone else. Which made Karl a little suspicious about their relationship.

"I just hope he snaps out of it soon. I heard we're going out to battle again tomorrow."

"W-what??" Karl exclaimed. "B-but what about Alicia? We can't do this without her!"

"Karl! Stop whining!" Lynn demanded.

Karl immediately stopped what he was doing.

"I-I'm… sorry." Karl whispered.

Lynn didn't say anything. She continued to stare out into the night sky. While Karl stood there, thinking of something else to say.

"L-Lynn?" he asked.

"What?"

"How do you feel about this war right now? Has it affected you in any way?"

Lynn stood there, silent. After a few moments she had finally answered.

"Well, all I have to say is, I don't like it one bit."

Karl nodded.

"All this senseless killing, and the darcsens being captured and enslaved… What is it with humans? We continue to repeat our mistakes in history with each generation. And it only seems to get worse and worse each time. Why does this have to happen?"

Lynn then broke down in tears. Karl watched as her tears fell on the ground, it looked as if Naggiar's soil had finally gained some much needed nourishment. He attempted to comfort Lynn, but she backed away from him.

"Please Karl. I just want to be alone right now…" Lynn said through her tears.

"O-Okay… I understand." Karl replied sadly.

Karl went back to go to bed. What Lynn just said to him hurt Karl. He feared that their relationship may not last the end of the war. If that were to happen, he would have nothing left to live for. He loved her, but does she love him anymore? She had been acting coldly towards him. He attempted to go to sleep, as the battle ahead of them could very well decide the fate of Gallia…

-

Karl and the rest of the squad were placed up at the front lines with the rest of the Gallian Army, ready to commence Naggiar's final battle. This was it, if they could just win this one battle, they could push the imperials back to Ghirlandio, their current base of operations, and eventually, out of Gallia, winning the war. As he stood next to his squad mates, he saw in the distance a bright blue aura coming out from the massive legion of imperials. It was the valkyria, she too, was ready to fight. She pointed her lance at the Gallians, which made Karl flinch.

"Listen to me Gallia!" her voice echoed across the battlefield. Karl shook in fear at the sound of her voice.

"Cast aside your weapons and surrender! If you do not, Naggiar's plains will drink deeply of your blood!"

The entire imperial army all yelled, ready for battle.

"It's no use…" Karl thought. "They have a valkyria with them, how can we beat that?"

Karl hung his head down on the ground, he had lost all hope. Suddenly, he felt an odd presence behind him. He turned around, his eyes widened.

"No way…" he whispered.

It was Alicia, but she was different than usual, she was glowing blue just like the valkyria. She even carried a lance and shield as well. Karl and the other soldiers watched in shock and awe as she walked with a blank expression on her face. Almost as is she was possessed by some ungodly pressence. Karl looked back at Welkin who was looking out from the top of his tank. He was especially shocked.

Not long after Alicia walked out into the battlefield, the other valkyria charged straight at her. Karl watched in amazement as the two fought, Alicia seemed like she was barely making any effort as she was parrying and dodging the valkyria's strikes. Eventually, she finished her off with a blast from her lance, knocking the other valkyria unconscious. The tides had turned, the Gallians had a chance.

"Now's our chance!" A soldier cried out, "Attack!!"

The entire Gallian army charged forward, ready to defeat the imperials. Meanwhile, Karl and the rest of the squad just stood there, unable to believe what Alicia had become.

"Boss! What's happened to Alicia?!" Rosie asked

"I don't know…" Welkin said. "But that blue flame is the same as that Valkyria's."

The whole squad turned to Welkin, not believing what he just said.

"You don't mean… You saying Alicia's valkyria?!" Largo said

"It looks like she's attacking unconsciously, get to close, she might attack us."

"W-what are we going to do??" Karl asked.

"We can't just leave her out there!" Lyn followed

Welkin took a moment to think about the situation at hand.

"I'm worried but… we're better off watching for now. In the meantime, we strike their camp!"

Karl watched as Alicia decimated the enemy forces, tank squads fell to her lance beam, legions of soldiers ran away in fear of her might. She was almost unstoppable. Eventually, the squad got to the enemy's base camp and claimed it, sealing their victory. At that moment, Alicia's powers dissipated, and she collapsed on the ground. Immediately, the Karl and the rest of the squad went over to pick her up. The medic picked her up and was about to head back to base. Karl was relieved, the battle was over and Alicia will hopefully be alright.

Suddenly, an explosion went off. Karl flinched, he looked into the distance and saw a large group of imperials heading towards the squad, behind them was an enormous tank.

"W-what kind of tank is that??" Karl asked

He heard another explosion from behind, down the hill behind the camp was another tank just like the one he just saw.

"It's a trap!" Largo exclaimed.

"Everyone! Split into two groups! Edy Detatchment! Come with me! We'll attack the tank on the far side. Everyone else, stay here and get rid of the enemies coming up the hill!" Welkin ordered.

Karl didn't like being away from Lynn again, and feared her safety, but he was used to it by now. He helped Largo and the other lancers set up for the battle for the hill. Meanwhile, he and Nadine placed sandbags in front of the enemy's path so the shocktroopers could hold off the infantry. Not long after, the enemy began to hit hard. Karl frantically placed ammunition inside Largo's lance, allowing him to fire.

"Lancers! Fire!" Largo yelled.

Karl watched as the lancers fired simultaneously at the large tank, forcing it back. The attack had caused noticeable damage to it, but not enough to destroy it. The tank responded by launching a mortar round high up into the air. Karl looked up into the sky, it looked as if the mortar round was like a shining star in the night sky.

"Get out of the way!" Largo yelled at Karl and the other squad members with him.

They barely got out of the mortar's blast radius, which left a wall of blue fire in it's wake. Karl watched in horror as a few unlucky soldiers who got caught in the flame burned to death, screaming in agony. He could not believe the imperials could create such a weapon of such destruction.

Eventually, Karl, Largo, and the rest were able to get back to what they were doing and fired at the tank. Karl then heard something on his radio.

"Help! Is anyone there?!?" a female voice cried out. Karl recognized the voice belonged to Edy.

"Edy, what's going on?" Karl answered

"Karl! Terrible news! We got separated from Lynn! She's critically injured!" Edy cried

Karl's body froze, his heart felt like it was about to explode.

"W-W-what do you mean!?!" Karl raised his voice.

"We were able to destroy the tank, but as we were pulling back we saw Lynn get shot, now she can't move! We're unable to get to her as there's a huge wall of flame in the way!"

"Sir, please tell me there's a way to save her!" Karl said to Welkin over the radio.

"… I'm sorry, all available reinforcments are currently fighting their own battles. "I'm… really sorry Karl." Welkin said.

Karl couldn't believe what he was hearing. His lover was critically injured in the middle of the battlefield with no one to help her. He felt an intense amount of anger and sadness welling up inside of him. He wanted to find the bastard who shot her and tear him to shreds. He wanted to go out and save her, but the squad is facing down a massive tank as they spoke. He couldn't just leave them, as he was the one handing out ammunition.

"Wait a minute…" Karl thought.

-

"Karl! I need more ammo!" Largo said.

A few moments passed, but he couldn't here him.

"Karl?"

He turned and found a pile of bags filled with ammunition in them, opened for convenient use where Karl used to be.

"Karl! Where did you go??"

**I've waited a really long time to write that little cliffhanger. Anyway, I appoligize for the long time it took to write this. I had a LOT of homework, not to mention the amount of time I put into this chapter. I hope you liked it. See you next time.**


	20. Chapter 20

**And now, the conclusion of the Naggiar battles! NOT! It's actually time to conclude the flashbacks I've been holding off until now. I told you I'd continue them when the time was right. XD Anyway, enjoy…**

* * *

**Chapter 20**:Tying the Knot

_February, 1935 E.C._

_It late in the afternoon in Fouzen. Karl's day at the Ironworks had finally came to an end. Normally, he would be heading home around this time, but he had different plans. He went towards the shopping district in his neighborhood, when he finally got there, he walked towards a store called "Fouzen Jewelers". He had his eye on a very special ring that was made from Ragnite Crystal, very few were made due to the cost of production. It was perfect, as Karl had recently decided to propose to Lynn._

_He had saved up a lot of money in order to buy this rare jewel, in order to do that he had to sell some of his personal belongings in order to aquire half of the money needed to pay for it. It wasn't easy, but if it meant he could spend the rest of his life with his true love, then it was worth it. However, when he reached the store, Karl watched as the owner of the shop got out and locked the door. Frantically, Karl ran towards him and called out._

_"W-wait! Don't close now!" _

_The store owner turned around. He was quite old as his goatee was grey as a rain cloud. _

_"Sorry youngster, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow before I can do business with you." he told Karl._

_"B-but, you don't understand, I need to buy a ring tonight. I'm planning to propose to my girlfriend tonight!" Karl pleaded._

_"Well then, you probably should've thought of that earlier today, I have to get home." said the owner._

_"Please sir. This may be my only chance…" Karl begged_

_"I said no. Now get outta here!" the owner barked_

_Karl looked down on the ground, he had everything set up for his date tonight, he would bring Lynn up to the hilltops after eating dinner and look up at the stars. At that point, he would be able to propose for her. But unfortunately, those plans would have to wait. _

_"I-I understand…" Karl said_

_As Karl walked away, the store owner scratched his goatee, he stood for a while as he watched Karl walk slowly away, with his head hanging._

_"Ah damn it…" he whispered. "Hey! Youngster! Come back!" _

_Karl turned around, wondering what the owner wanted._

_"Let's make this quick okay? I gotta get back home."_

_"T-thank you sir!" Karl exclaimed. _

_As soon as Karl walked into the store, the owner asked._

_"Now, which ring do you want get?" he asked_

_"This one sir." Karl said as he pointed to the Ragnite Crystal ring._

_"Hoo boy, that ring's pretty damn expensive. Do you have the money for it?" the owner asked_

_"Yes sir." Karl answered. "It wasn't easy either…"_

_"I'd imagine not." the owner replied as he scrached his goatee. "Come on, I'll ring it up for ya."_

_After Karl made his purchase, he walked out of the store. He turned around and said,_

_"Thank you again sir! You have no idea how much this means to me."_

_"Yes, yes, now get on home to your sweetheart. I gotta close shop." the owner replied_

_As he watched Karl walk away with the Ragnite Crytsal ring, the owner chuckled._

_"He reminds me of a younger me. Every bit as hasty too. I sure hope he knows what he's doing..."_

_-_

_Later that night, Karl and Lynn were driving after thier dinner at the restaurant he had taken her to for their date._

_"Thank you so much Karl, I had a great time tonight. The food was really good." Lynn said._

_"N-no problem Lynn. But the night's not over yet." Karl said._

_"Oh really?" Lynn asked. "Are we going to the hilltops again?"_

_"Y-yup. There's a surprise up there." Karl replied._

_Karl and Lynn usually spent their nights up on top of one of the grassy hilltops outside of Fouzen's borders. It was covered in grass, and the sky was clear enough to see the stars. They liked to spend their entire time their just staring up into the stars, pointing out the various constellations. There they also told each other their secrets and dreams._

_When they finally got there, Karl led Lynn up the highest hill in the fields. It was closest to the moon, which meant that the hill also shined the brightest out of all of them. The overall atmosphere was perfect for Karl's proposal to Lynn. _

_As soon as the couple reached the top, Lynn gazed at the moon. She was amazed how close they were to it._

_"Karl… This is amazing, I've never seen the moon so close up before. Is this the surprise you wanted to show me?" she asked._

_"N-no, that's not the surprise." Karl said._

_"Oh. Well, I wonder what it could be?"_

_Karl gazed at Lynn, her blue dress shone off the moon's light. All he wanted to do was stand up here with Lynn forever. He suddenly remembered what they were up here for, and found himself sweating. He never thought ahead about the actual proposal itself. When or when shouldn't he propose, how should he do it, or what he should say. _

_"Um… Lynn?" Karl said._

_Lynn turned towards Karl, her eyes shining from the moon, she smiled at Karl and asked,_

_"Yes Karl?"_

_"I-I…" he stopped. He had no idea what to say._

_"What's wrong Karl?" Lynn asked, puzzled._

_"L-Lynn, you… love me. Right?" he asked_

_"Well of course I do, why wouldn't I?" _

_"W-well, I was just wondering…" Karl began to say as he was reaching into his pocket to get the ring._

_"I… huh?" Karl rummaged around in his pocket._

_"It's gone!" thought Karl. The ring wasn't in his pocket._

_"What is it Karl?" Lynn asked. "Is something wrong?"_

_"N-no no! O-of course not!" Karl stammered as he looked around the hilltop, making sure he didn't drop the ring._

_Lynn raised an eyebrow, perplexed by what he was doing. It was then she noticed a tiny box lying on the ground. She picked it up and asked,_

_"Is this what you're looking for?" _

_Karl turned around and saw the box the ring came in. He froze, she knew he was up to something, and he couldn't stall any longer. He took the box out of Lynn's hands and took a deep breath._

_"Lynn, I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. So, I must ask you…"_

_Karl knelt onto the grass, revealing the Ragnite Crystal ring, Lynn's eyes widened._

_"Lynn, will you marry me?" Karl asked_

_Lynn stood there, unable to say anything. Karl awaited for her answer for a good two minutes, and she still said nothing. He than thought, maybe she didn't want to marry him, but at the same time she couldn't say no to him. Dissapointed, he stood back up and said,_

_"I-if you think it's too early, I suppose I'll…"_

_Suddenly, Karl found himself tackled by Lynn, he found himself rolling down the side of the large hill with Lynn in his arms, she was laughing with delight. When they finally reached the bottom, Lynn sat up and said,_

_"Of course I'll marry you! I've been waiting for you to say that." _

_She and Karl then began to share a kiss, it was the longest kiss he had ever shared with her. After their kiss, Karl placed the ring on Lynn's left hand. It shined off as the moonlight touched it. _

_"Wow, Karl, it's beautiful. It must have cost a fortune. However were you able to get this?" Lynn asked._

_"Well, it wasn't easy…" Karl said as he looked back up at the sky. _

_The stars became even brighter since they last saw them, which was strange considering they were no longer at the top of the hill. Karl began to wonder if his act had somehow caused this. He then felt Lynn resting her head on his shoulder. Karl smiled, he had never been happier in his life. Everything was perfect. Nothing bad could possibly happen now…_

* * *

**Epic foreshadowing! Anyway, I appoligize if this wasn't as long or good as my last chapter, but I have a bunch of school work I have to do. Luckily, I found the time to write this chapter. Hopefully, it will hold you off until the next one comes. See ya then!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: **Love

Karl ran faster than he ever did before in his life. Perhaps it was because he left the bags he was issued to carry at all times on the battlefield with Largo and the others, which allowed him to run with less burden. Most likely though, it was his determination to save Lynn.

"Lynn. I won't let you down this time. I will save you!" he thought.

As he ran, he noticed up ahead the big wall of flame mentioned by Edy in the radio transmission he received not too long ago. That had to be where Lynn was. He hoped he wasn't too late.

As he ran, he heard the sound of a gun firing, a sniper rifle specifically. Involuntarily, he dived onto the ground, the bullet just missing him. As he got back up he dashed behind the nearest rock. There was a sniper looking for him. If he wasn't careful then he could die right here, which in turn will cause Lynn to die. Too much was at stake here, he could make any mistakes. He then remembered something Catherine 'O' Hara told him a few months back…

_Karl was walking down the sniper's shooting range. He had left some tools he needed to fix up the Edelweiss with. As he was walking, he stopped for a second and watched one of Squad 7's snipers, a women with brown hair with what looked like a tint of purple in it. She took a few seconds to aim her rifle, when she fired, a hole appeared dead center on the target._

"_N-nice shot!" Karl said_

_The women turned around and smiled, "Thank you, but that wouldn't be my best shot. I'm afraid I've grown rather rusty over the years…"_

_Karl was confused, "O-over the years?"_

"_Yes, I once served in the first Europan war as well… Oh! Pardon me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Catherine 'O' Hara." she said_

"_M-my name's Karl." They shook each other's hands, Karl noticed she had a firm grip on her. Maybe it was the result of all those years of sniping she had._

"_Karl, you seem like a nice fellow, I'll give you some pointers for when you're in a tight situation." she said_

"_R-really? Like what?" Karl asked._

"_Like when an enemy sniper is hunting for you."_

_Karl gulped at the thought. He hoped that wouldn't happen to him at all during the war._

"_One thing to know is that Imperial Sniper Rifles, or ZM SG s, only have two bullets in their slots. The sniper can only fire at you twice before he has to reload. That is your chance to make your move. Weather it be firing back at them, or simply running away." Catherine said._

"_Um, thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Karl replied._

_Catherine nodded and waved goodbye. She then continued practicing her aim._

"_Now, where did I put those tools…" Karl said to himself._

_-_

"Okay." Karl thought. "He's already fired once. Somehow, I have to get him to fire again. But, where do I run to after that?"

Karl looked over to the other side of the rock, he saw some trenches he could go into. Once the sniper fired his second bullet, Karl would dive in there and make his way out of the sniper's sight. Somehow though, he needed to figure out how to get him to fire again, and fast. Lynn won't last too much longer alone. He quickly looked around for something, anything. He then looked down and saw a corpse of a Gallian soldier who still had his helmet on. This gave Karl an idea. He took the helmet off of the soldier and placed it on top of the butt of his gun.

"Hope this works…" Karl thought

He slowly raised the gun with the helmet above his head, which went above the rock in clear view of the sniper. Karl waited, his legs shaking, for the sniper to fire.

BLAM

The helmet was blown off of the gun. Karl immediately took this chance and dashed towards the trenches, his heart pounding in the process. As soon as he reached them, he began to dive into them. As he did, he felt an intense pain in his right arm. Karl cried out in pain as he landed on his stomach in the trenches. He looked at his arm, the sniper's rifle had a third bullet in it. It seemed like Catherine's advice was out dated in terms of the enemy's technology. However, what mattered was that Karl was still alive. He began to crawl his way to the trenches, wincing in pain from the bullet lodged in his arm.

When he finally climbed out of the trenches, Karl saw the huge wall of flame just a few yards ahead. Lynn had to be there, so he quickly, yet cautiously moved towards the fire, making sure there are no snipers in the area. He stopped just a few feet away, he raised his arms to shield himself from the intense heat.

"Lynn!!" He called out. "Lynn!! Are you alright?!?"

No answer. He stepped forward and attempted to look beyond the fire, and sure enough, he found Lynn lying prone on the ground. He began to fear the worst as he looked frantically for a way around the fire. But there was no way around it, it had spread out to far, and he had precious little time to get to her.

"W-what should I do??" Karl thought.

The moments that had happened after were almost a blur to Karl, he found himself charging through the fire. As he did, he felt an excruciating pain. He shouted in agony, it was almost too much to bear. Yet he still ran as fast as he could until finally, he got to the other side. Karl dropped onto the ground, rolling back and forth to extinguish the flames licking away at his uniform. Eventually, they were gone.

Karl attempted to get himself back onto his feet. Lynn was just a few feet away from him, he had to get up, but he found himself unable to move even his fingers. The pain from the bullet wound and the burns on his body were overwhelming.

"I-I can't get up…" Karl whispered.

Inside his mind, Karl knew he had failed. If he couldn't get to Lynn, who else would? All of his efforts to change himself, wasted. All of his dreams of his future with Lynn, dashed. It was hopeless now, Karl awaited his death as the pain flowed through his body. Suddenly, Karl noticed two imperials walking towards them, they went over to Lynn.

"Hey look, it's a dark hair." one of them said.

"Is she dead?" the other asked.

The first imperial knelt down to take a closer look at Lynn, he got back up and said,

"Nah, she's still alive. Barely."

"I have an idea, why don't we take this one with us? We could use replacements for the dark hairs that escaped Fouzen." the second imperial suggested.

Upon hearing this Karl felt a sharp pain in his stomach. They were going to take away Lynn, he couldn't let that happen.

"She does look pretty strong." the first imperial replied. "And we could get ourselves some quick cash as well."

"Alright then, pick her up."

Karl slowly lifted himself off the ground. The pain from his wounds was excruciating, but he did his best to not make any noise, as the imperials had their backs to him. He picked up his rifle, and slowly raised it up and aimed for one of their heads.

"Y-y-you… leave… her… ALONE!!!" Karl yelled as he began to fire.

The first bullet dropped the first imperial. The second immediately turned around. Panicked, he began to fire at Karl. Luckily for Karl, the bullet missed, which gave him a window of opportunity to take him down. Karl fired again, this time hitting the imperial in the knee. The imperial yelled in agony as he fell on his wounded knee. Karl fired one more time and hit the imperial in the stomach, he watched as he fell down dead.

Karl got back up and walked towards Lynn, he took a good look at her. Blood was flowing out of her stomach, she was pale from the loss of blood, but she was still alive.

"D-don't worry Lynn." Karl said as he pulled out a large Ragnaid container, "I'm here now."

Karl activated the container and placed it next to Lynn's wounds, the ragnite began to fix up the spot where she was shot. After it was finished, Lynn gasped for air, she slowly looked up at her savior.

"K-Karl…" she whispered. "You came for me?"

"Of course I did!" Karl said "I-I couldn't just let you die!"

At that moment, Karl lifted Lynn up onto his shoulders to help support her. As she was weakly getting on her feet, she noticed the wounds all over Karl.

"Y-your hurt…" Lynn weakly said

"It's no big deal." he replied. Despite the pain he felt from just lifting Lynn up, he didn't want her to worry. They slowly went towards the fire, which had finally began to die down, allowing large gaps they could use to pass through the fire unharmed.

"K-Karl…" Lynn whispered.

"Don't try to speak, save your strength." Karl said

Lynn smiled and nodded. She knew everything was going to be okay now.

-

After a few minutes of walking, Karl and Lynn finally reunited with the squad. From afar, Karl noticed someone in the squad pointing towards Lynn and him. When the two finally reached them, Largo ran in and grabbed Karl.

"What the hell were you thinking?!?" he shouted. "You don't just run off by yourself like that! You put both yourself and the squad at risk!"

Karl cried out in pain, Largo's grip was too much for his wounds to handle.

"Largo! Calm down!" Welkin commanded.

Largo released Karl from his grip, letting out a big sigh. He asked, "So you both made it back in one piece?"

"Y-yes sir." Karl said, still wincing in pain

"I'm surprised you're still moving!" Fina said "Look at all these burns! And Lynn, it looks like you lost a lot of blood. You both need medical attention stat!"

She first examined Lynn. She took a look at the wound Karl healed with the ragnaid, she nodded.

"Thankfully, Karl was there to seal this up in time, but you're still in bad condition. Can somebody bring her to the tents while I examine Karl?"

"I'll do it." Rosie offered.

As she was lifting Lynn onto her shoulder, Karl said

"Rosie?"

Rosie turned her head to him.

"T-thank you."

She nodded as she began to walk Lynn towards the tents. Fina then began her examination on Karl.

"I have to say Karl," she said as she was treating his burns. "You're pretty tough, taking all this punishment just to rescue someone."

"Heh, I guess I got lucky huh?" Karl said

-

Later, as the squad was settling down for the night, Karl went over to the medic's tent where Lynn was.

"E-excuse me Fina?" he asked.

"Yes Karl?" Fina answered

"Is it alright if I visit Lynn? I just want to see how she's doing."

"Well, alright." she said, "But don't stay too long. She had a near death experience, so she'll need all the rest she can get."

"I-I understand."

As he walked into the tent, he noticed some of his fellow squad mates were all lying in beds. They all took a heavy beating from their most recent battle, but Karl was glad they were alright. When he finally reached Lynn's bed, Lynn greeted him with a warm smile, something she didn't give to him for a while.

"H-hey Lynn. How are you doing?" Karl asked.

"I'm doing just fine thank you Karl." she answered.

They were both silent for a while, until Karl said,

"So, how did it happen? How did you get injured?"

"Well, Lynn began. I was with the others fending off the imperials and their large tank. We were eventually able to destroy the tank, so we began to retreat. I was in the rear holding the imperials off. And then suddenly, I felt an incredible pain in my stomach. I fell on the ground, unable to move. Then suddenly, one of the tank's firebombs landed right between me and the others, so they couldn't get to me. I was losing blood quickly, so I eventually passed out."

She looked up at Karl, "Next thing I knew, I saw you watching over me. It was like an angel came down to save me."

Karl blushed at her analogy, but then he noticed a look of remorse on her face.

"I'm…really sorry for the way I've treated you." She said.

"Lynn…"

" I guess it was because I never truly accepted you for who you are. I felt ashamed of you for depending on me even as a soldier, and I thought you would never change."

She looked up at Karl once more.

"Karl, you really proved me wrong today. You risked your life just to save me. Even after how I treated you."

Her eyes began to water up.

"You deserve someone.... much better than me."

"Lynn! Never say that to me! You know that's not true!" Karl exclaimed.

Lynn twitched.

"Lynn. I love you, and I always will! You're the only person who I could ever see myself being with."

He took hold of her hand. "And that will never change."

"Karl…" she said.

She embraced him, crying her eyes out into his shoulder. Karl held her close, he did not intend to let her go.

So many things had happened ever since this war started. It was a long hard road, and through it all, Karl was able to persevere. He started out like a head lit-deer, freezing and cowering whenever trouble brewed, but as time went by, he slowly transformed into a strong reliable man. One that Lynn could always rely on when she was in trouble. In the end, that was all he could ever wanted…

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**Yay! This chapter is finally done! Next up is the epilogue! I'm sorry if this seems a little abrupt, I know the was itself wasn't over, but in all honesty, I believe Karl's personal journey is over, and that's what I was focusing on while writing this. I hope you understand. I'd like to thank each and every one of you readers for taking the time to read this fan fiction of a fantastic game, and giving me pointers on how I should improve. The epilogue should be up soon. See ya then!**


	22. Chapter 22

**This is it! The final chapter of my VC fanfic! Once again, I'd like to thank you all for your support! Special thanks to Snowman23, DC20, Runty Grunty and Cloner4000 for giving me the most tips on improving my writing! As for whether I'll write another VC fanfic… I'm still thinking about it honestly. But if I do, you'll never guess who'll I'll write about! Anyway, enjoy the last chapter of, "The Tale of the Head-Lit Deer"**

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**Epilogue: **Those Who Had Succeeded

March 1943 E.C.

It was the end of the school day for the children in the industrial city of Fouzen, a little girl, who was walking home from school, was ambushed by two bullies.

"Hey "Half and Half", give us your notes!" one bully said.

"M-my name is Susie" she whimpered.

"We don't care what your name is!" the other bully said. "All we know is that you're smart, and you always get a perfect score on your homework! So give them to us!"

They proceeded to kick dirt in her face. Susie wanted to stand up for herself, but she was afraid they'd hurt her. All she could do was close her eyes, lay there, take her punishment and hope it will be over soon. Suddenly, she felt a familiar presence in front of her. She saw a boy who had had hair like hers, it looked darcsen, but was lighter than what normal darcsen hair looked like.

"Hey! Leave my little sister alone! She did nothing to you!" the boy said.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?" the first bully mocked

"This!" the boy yelled as he punched the bully's nose.

"Argh! Dammit!" the bully cried as he wiped his nose, as the boy had broken it.

As the bullies were running off, one of them yelled,

"Don't think this is over you half darcsen freaks!"

After the bullies left, the boy picked Susie off of the ground.

"Hey Sis, you okay?" he asked

"Uh huh." she sniffed. "But Evan, you didn't had to do that, you could've been hurt!"

"Come on Sis, Dad always said to stand up for others in need."

She nodded, "Uh huh."

Evan moved closer to her and waggled his finger.

"And he also said that we had to learn to stand up for _ourselves _as well."

"I know… But how can I do that?" she asked "Those bullies are bigger than me!"

Evan patted her shoulder. "Trust me, with my help you can do anything. Now come on! Lets go home!"

"O-ok!" Susie said as they began to walk back home.

-

Karl had finally returned home after a long day of managing the Ironworks. Since the war had ended, he had worked hard enough to obtain a higher position in the Fouzen Ironworks. The income that he had obtained was enough to buy his wife Lynn and himself a new home. As soon as he entered the house, Lynn ran up and hugged him. Which surprised Karl, normally she would be out of the house attempting to befriend their non-darcsen neighbors.

"How was work today honey?" Lynn asked.

"It was alright…" Karl said as he began to stare at Lynn. She still kept her ponytail from when they were in the war, but she dressed up like how any housewife would dress up like. It was hard to believe this was the Lynn he knew from his childhood. She had her hands around her stomach, indicating that something was different about her.

"I've got great news Karl! You'll never guess!" she said as she was sashaying into the kitchen.

"W-what is it?" he asked

"We're having another baby!" she answered.

Karl was pleasantly surprised, but not as much as he was when he learned of Lynn being pregnant with their first child, Evan. Still, it was a joyous occasion.

"That's great Lynn!" he exclaimed as he shared an embrace.

"Oh, wait until the kids come home! I can't wait to tell them they'll have a new little brother or sister!" Lynn said.

Karl nodded as he began to check the mail he had picked up from his mailbox on the way back into the house. He noticed one that was addressed to him from "The Gunthers"

"Hey! We got another letter from Welkin and Alicia!" Karl said.

Throughout the war, Karl noticed how close Welkin and Alicia were, but until near the end of the war, he never realized how much they loved each other. They got married not too long after the war had ended. They currently live in their hometown of Bruhl, where they both have jobs and are raising a daughter, whom they named "Isara", after the brave darcsen tank operator who died in the middle of the war.

"Hmm? What's it say?" Lynn asked.

After reading through it, Karl summarized it for her.

"Apparently little Isara gave Alicia a bug as a present for her birthday, which caused her to fall over!"

They both got a good laugh from it. After they were done laughing, Lynn asked,

"Did we get any other letters from our old friends from Squad 7?"

"Nope, just this one…" Karl replied.

"Hmm, I wonder what they're all doing since they wrote us last…"

The Landzatts had letters from their former squad mates before. Each of them went on their own separate paths. Largo revived his family farm and turned it into an organic veggie farm, Rosie went on tour as a singer, singing the same song she sung at Isara's funeral, Zaka went and invented a special toy that became a hit in the toy market, Nadine went and published a book which sold thousands nationwide, Wavy went back to his hometown and opened up a school for underprivileged children, Kevin took up wrestling, and Vyse, Aika, Alex, and Fina all wrote that they were heading to "Arcadia", which Karl still found slightly farfetched.

After Karl went through all his letters, he sat down in his chair, looking outside his window. He bought a house which was right next to the green hilltops where he and Lynn would go to look up at the stars before the war had began. He and his family would go out every night when it was dark too look up at the same stars. Evan would always sit next to him, and Susie would always sit on Lynn's lap. It was their special time for when they needed to talk about the problems they are facing and when they needed parently advice.

Karl recollected all the times he had in his life right up to now. He had truly went far in life, he was able to change himself for the better, he was able to help fight and win the war against the Empire, and he ended up marrying the love of his life and with that, raised a family. Karl couldn't be happier.

"Oh honey! The kids are home!" Lynn said.

Karl rose from his chair, and prepared to greet his children from their day at school…

**THE END**


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